Windham boys’ varsity summer basketball crushes Cheverus

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham High School boys’ varsity summer basketball team downed Cheverus at Windham on Monday, July 13 and previewed a bright future for the team in the process.

Windham junior Boston Krainis looks for a teammate to pass
to while flying through mid-air during a boys' varsity
summer basketball game against Cheverus at Windham 
High school on Monday, July 13.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA   

Windham had a strong start in the first half and put some distance between them and the Stags early on. Windham hit several three-pointers in the first half and did not let up in the second half. Offense and defense were outstanding. While Cheverus made some leeway over the two halves, it was not enough. As the clock was running out, Windham would not be caught and won, 60-47.

“We just want to have a lot of fun,” said Windham varsity boys’ summer basketball coach Chad Pulkkinen. “We want to get up and down, we do a little stuff in practice that we want to apply to the game. Every summer game is physical; there are less calls. It’s really testing our character, I think that’s what we try to work on the most during the summer is how we respond to adversity, how we respond when things don’t go our way. These guys are just great kids, they give me everything they have and it’s easy to coach them. It’s pretty exciting to be around a group of guys like that. The physicality (went well). Cheverus is very physical, our guys didn’t back down from it. Our team just trusted one another, put in the effort ... there was no quit in our guys. These games in the summer ... mean a lot because it translates in the regular season.”

The Eagles started the game playing strong defense and kept Cheverus scoreless for almost the first full five minutes of the game.

Freshman Robbie Sanicola put Windham on the scoreboard when he sank a three-pointer. Next, senior Landon Wyman sank a three-pointer and Senior Colin Janvrin had an incredible slam dunk.

Windham forced several turnovers; and they displayed excellent ball movement.

Cheverus was trying to catch up, but Windham made it hard. Junior Boston Krainis hit a three-pointer. Windham led by more than 10 points. Janvrin dunked again; then sank a three-pointer before the buzzer. At halftime, Windham held a 27-16 lead.

“We show up and practice hard ... and on a hot day like this it translates to what we learn in practice and how hard we try,” said Janvrin. “We’ve been bonding a lot, hanging out together outside of games and coming together as a team. Our defense only let up 47 points, and it was big ... getting the ball in transition. We shared the ball and shot the ball really well. Finding our roles and what guys do on other teams (needs work).”

Krainis sank a three-pointer in the first minute of the second half as Windham’s intensity remained very strong. Its offense continued to widen the points gap between Windham and Cheverus as Windham sophomore Cooper Leland hit a three-pointer.

The Eagles’ offense fought to be first to the ball and they rebounded well. As soon as Cheverus closed the points gap a little, Windham would answer and widen it again.

With 1 minute remaining, the Eagles had built more than a 10-point lead and they held onto that lead until the final buzzer.

“We like to play as a team and move the ball around; we all trust each other, defense was really connected,” said Sanicola. “Offenses we all know where we’re going to be. It’s just going through practice, playing hard with each other and then that leads to a game like this. Rebounding on defense (needs work), having intensity, not letting the opponent get second-chance points. A game like this I can learn to stay connected to the whole game and not let them hang around.” <