Will Parsons (21 points) and Spencer Pacy (14 points)
Will Parsons had seventeen points in the second half
(Byfield MA) Will Parsons (21 points) carried Triton to a 48-39 First Round win over Pentucket on Tuesday night.
Triton will face Newburyport on Friday night at Newburyport (7PM) in the Division 3 North quarterfinals.
Will Parsons had a seventeen-point second half. His three with 1:48 left in the game gave the Vikings two-possession separation (43-37) and Pentucket couldn’t recover.
Pentucket (12-9) did make a remarkable recovery in the first half. Held to one point in the first quarter and down 14-5 two minutes into the second quarter, it looked like a blowout in the making. But it wasn’t.
Nate McGrail squeezed between two Vikings
The Sachems put a run of sixteen straight points together and 1 ½ minutes into the second half had a 21-14 advantage. Now it was Triton’s turn to look to be in serious trouble.
A key to Pentucket’s run to the lead was Spencer Pacy’s ability to get to the basket. The Sachems’ sophomore had eight in the second quarter and fourteen for the game.
Triton’s Will Parsons took over the offense in the second half. Tightly covered by Spencer Pacy and other, the talented junior found ways to add twelve points in the third quarter alone. His old-fashioned three in the closing seconds of the quarter put the Vikings in front for good (28-26).
If you watch enough Triton games you’ve seen junior Colin Brennan get hot a few times. Pentucket did everything they could to prevent it. However, in the first 1 ½ minutes of the final quarter, Colin drained two three’s. The second one put the Vikings ahead, 36-28.
Jack McCarthy hemmed in by a trio of Sachems
Time for Pentucket to look to be in serious trouble. But with two close games versus Triton this season you suspected that they weren’t done. An old-fashioned three (Nate McGrail), a jumper (Spencer Pacy), and a Conor O’Neil triple put Pentucket within two 38-36 with 3 ½ minutes left. Anyone’s game.
The crowd was amazing throughout the contest. And they had plenty to get excited about. Two-point game with 3 ½ left in a tournament game? It got loud!
The Sachems, however, had only a Conor O’Neil free throw to show for the crunch-time 2 ½ minutes that followed.
The Vikings during this same segment combined a layup by Jack McCarthy, a three by Will Parsons, and another layup by Jack McCarthy and this restored their eight-point lead (45-37) with a minute left.
Three turnovers and two missed free throws were unfortunate parts of the final minutes of Pentucket’s 2016-17 season.
Both Will Parsons and Liam Spillane went off the court in the 4th quarter with what appeared to be leg cramps. Will did return to nail a crucial 3-pointer.
Triton was without point-guard Chris Trotta. Sophomores Dylan Shute and Gabe Butts gained extra floor time as a result.
Liam Spillane loose in the lane
Both teams entered tonight’s game on 3-game winning streaks.
Pentucket had a remarkable win over Newburyport recently after losing to the Clippers by 35 points in their first meeting. A number of the NHS players took in tonight’s game.
It was a well-behaved crowd that had plenty to cheer about.
Conor O’Neil had ten points for Pentucket.
(All pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)
Triton starts to celebrate
Jack McCarthy looks for an opening
Battle for a rebound
Liam Spillane looks to pass
Colin Brennan finds the range
Pentucket faithful
Gus Flaherty on a break
Nate McGrail finds a lane to the hoop
Gus Flaherty shoots the last shot of the first quarter
McClelland Miscellanea 
