A wall-banging blowout of Concord followed by a somewhat more sloppy slapping of Exeter last week enabled coach Peter Rosinski’s Pinkerton Academy boys’ basketball team to up its season record to 14-3 with the post-season arriving.
Predictably, the Astros had no trouble with the winless Concord High Crimson Tide in a 78-45 blowout on that opponent’s home court in the state capital Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Junior swing man Matt Rizzo had a fine night in leading his squad to the lopsided victory – netting 13 points, dishing out 10 assists, and snagging six steals – as the 13-3 Astros rolled to their fourth straight D-I victory.
Pinkerton held leads of 23-10 after one quarter and 42-22 at halftime, and by the time three periods had been completed the locals were up by 28 points (61-33) and the fourth quarter was officially garbage time.
Along with Rizzo’s excellent all-around offensive output, PA received a team-high 17 points from sharp-shooter Brennan Morris, 13 from Tommy Romick, and 11 from Caleb Godin.
The victorious locals netted a total of seven, three-point shots, with Morris nailing three and Rizzo sinking two.
The academy cagers were then home last Friday night, Feb. 27, for senior night and a battle with an Exeter High Blue Hawks’ squad that was saddled with a 5-10 record and had lost four of its previous five contests.
Rosinski’s roster played a first half that it would rather forget, playing sloppily enough to trail 12-8 after one quarter and 28-18 at halftime.
“We came out flat, so we had to readjust our defensive intensity at halftime, so to speak,” said Rosinski.
After getting an earful from their coach about the required readjustments, the Astros came out and blew the Blue Hawks out of the Hackler Gymnasium during the second half.
The hosts outscored their guests by a 48-19 tally during the second half, with a 25-10 outscore in period three to grasp a 43-38 lead going into the final period.
Pinkerton enjoyed a 23-9 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter as its lead grew and grew, and the locals finished up with a 66-47 victory.
Rizzo spearheaded the formidable PA offensive effort in the second half, netting all 17 of his points during the third and fourth stanzas. He also yanked down five rebounds and dished out four steals.
Senior center David Faulks was the victorious Astros’ top overall scorer with 18 points – including several Hackler-shaking slam-dunks – and 12 big rebounds. Brennan Morris contributed 10 points, and hard-nosed veteran captain Caleb Godin was good for seven rebounds.
