Portsmouth Patriots are in the final four
Portsmouth beats pesky Classical 51-48 in state tournament elite eight
Story and photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Posted 3/12/26
Portsmouth came back twice and finally beat pesky Classical 51-48 in the state elite eight in front of a packed field house at home on Wednesday night. Portsmouth, who won the Division-1 title last …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
Please log in to continue |
Register to post eventsIf you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here. Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content. |
Day pass subscribers
Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.
Portsmouth Patriots are in the final four
Portsmouth beats pesky Classical 51-48 in state tournament elite eight
Jack Casey (left) and brother Liam celebrate after Portsmouth beat Classical 51-48 in the state elite eight at home on Wednesday night.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Liam Casey shoots a 3-pointer in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny finishes a Patriots fast break in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jack Casey (left) looks on as Adam Conheeny has the ball stripped away by a pair of Classical defenders.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Head coach Sean Casey calls out a play in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jack Casey attempts to put back a rebound in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny celebrates after collecting a foul.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jackson Hackley drives in for a layup in the second half. He scored ten points during the game.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Nolan Fox readies to catch a pass.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny looks to shoot while double-teamed by Classical defenders.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny dives for a loose ball in the second half with the Patriots clinging to a one-point lead.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny rips the ball away from a Classical defender.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny came up with the loose ball which had been deemed a jump ball by the officials. After a discussion, It was determined that it was indeed, the Patriots ball.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Head coach Sean Casey speaks to the referee after the play.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Classical's Jaisen Galvan knocks the ball from Jackson Hackley as he drives to the basket for a layup in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny attempts a 3-pointer in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jack Casey drives to the basket in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jack Casey finishes off a fast break.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Liam Casey (left), look on as Nicholas Colantuono and Jackson Hackley stop Classical's Elezier Elbray-Rivera in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jack Casey attempts a 3-pointer in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny drains a 3-pointer to give Portsmouth a 46-45 lead late in the fourth quarter.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Liam Casey jumps on a loose ball in the second half.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny attempts to run out the clock wth seconds in the game. The senior star was fouled and he promptly made both free-throws.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Jack Casey disrupts a Classical pass, forcing it out of bounds off Delbray-Rivera giving Portsmouth the ball back with seconds to play in the game.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Adam Conheeny takes a breath before shooting a foul shot late in the game. He went two of four from the line in the fourth quarter.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Nolan Fox drains a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to extend the Patriots lead to 49-45.
Photos by Richard W. Dionne, Jr.
Posted
PORTSMOUTH — Portsmouth came back twice and finally beat pesky Classical 51-48 in the state elite eight in front of a packed field house at home on Wednesday night.
The Patriots, who won the Division I title last week, will play Barrington in the final four at URI's Ryan Center on Saturday, March 14, at 4 p.m.
Jack Casey broke up a pass that went out of bounds off Classical's Eliezer Delbray-Riveria that gave the Patriots the ball back with four seconds to go while clinging to a one-point lead.
The inbound pass went to Adam Conheeny, the Patriots star point guard who had one of his worst shooting nights of the season. Still, he drained a 3-pointer that put the Patriots up 46-45 with 1:31 left to play in the fourth quarter. He also sank of pair of free throws to ice the game with two seconds left to play when he was fouled by Jaisen Galvan trying to dribble up court and run out the clock.
The Patriots' aggressive defense held Classical down, while Conheeny blew a chance to put the Patriots up by three when he was fouled with twelve seconds to play and he missed several 3-point tries during the second half, though he led all scorers with 23 points.
Senior guard Nolan Fox buried a 3-pointer to extend Portsmouth's lead to 49-45 with 1:11 to play, but Classical forward Joshua Jonah sank a three to cut the lead to 49-48 with 29 seconds left.
Patriots come back twice
Portsmouth imposed its will on Classical, coming back twice.
The Patriots came back from a 24-18 halftime deficit and erased a 36-33 deficit after three quarters. Jackson Hackley, Liam Casey, Jack Casey and Fox scored much-needed points when Conheeny went cold down the stretch.
Hackley sank a 3-pointer and scored seven of his ten points in the second half. Liam Casey also drained a three and added five points. Jack Casey went three of four from the free-throw line and put back a rebound for his five points.
Classical's Delbray-Riveria scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to beat the D-1 champs.
Portsmouth will face a tough Barrington team that clobbered Mt. Hope 73-53 in their quarterfinals game. Barrington fell to La Salle in the division championship bracket.
Portsmouth scoring: Adam Conheeny scored 23 points, Jackson Hackley 10, Jack Casey 7, Nolan Fox 6, Liam Casey 5.
Keywords
PHS basketball, Portsmouth High School, Patriots
