PEMBROKE – For some reason, the Pembroke Academy boys’ basketball team seems to play its best basketball in the third quarter.

Friday night against Merrimack Valley was no different.

After carrying just an eight-point lead to halftime, the Spartans outscored the Pride 23-8 in the third period en route to a 69-55 win, their sixth in a row.

When these two teams matched up to open the season on Dec. 14 at MV, the Pride’s 2-2-1 full-court press forced Pembroke into a slow start. MV (8-4) held the Spartans (10-1) scoreless for the first three minutes of that game and led for the entire first half.

On Friday night, MV led 11-10 after the first quarter thanks to that pesky defense yet again. But it wasn’t enough to sustain the Pride. Pembroke’s halftime adjustments were enough to catapult one of the top teams in Division II to victory.

“At halftime, we go in and we talk about what happened in the first half,” Pembroke head coach Mike Donnell said matter-of-factly about his team’s success in the third quarter this season. “We try to pump them up, get them excited. They go out, and it just seems the third quarter’s been our quarter every single game.”

As has been the case for most of the year, senior Mike Strazzeri led the way for Pembroke with a stellar 34-point performance. Junior Joe Fitzgerald added 15 points, and senior Josh Pilotte had 12.

Senior Shondell Hadley led the way on the glass, corralling 13 rebounds, including several in the first quarter that Donnell credited for keeping his team in the game.

On the other side, MV’s Brandon Dukette scored 20 points, and Buddy Eddy added 10. In a playoff-like atmosphere, the Pride hung tough with Pembroke, as they did in the opener, but just couldn’t quite pull out the win.

After Pembroke won an emotional game last Saturday against Souhegan, a letdown could’ve been imminent, as is often the case after a big win. But there certainly has not been a letdown. In fact, Donnell’s team has been as locked in at this point as it’s been all year.

Following Thursday’s practice, Donnell told the team he was heading to Manchester West’s game to scout in preparation for their matchup on Tuesday. The whole team showed up with him.

“That just tells you the type of kids we have,” he said. “The whole team showed up to watch that game, and I was so proud of them.”

Donnell’s coached for a long time. He’s never had a team quite like this.

“This team doesn’t just do it on the floor. We have team dinners every week; all the kids show up. We’ve had three games where I’ve gone and told the guys that we were going to watch a game, and everybody shows up,” Donnell said. “It’s hard sometimes to get a kid motivated today. A lot of times, they want to go through the motions, they don’t want to practice, they just want to play. This is a team that wants to work hard. They want to be challenged; they want to be pushed.”

And with the playoffs quickly approaching, there’s no better time for the Spartans to hit their stride.

“The rewards are there for them,” Donnell said. “The ceiling for these guys is as high as they want it to be.”

Pembroke continues its push to the playoffs on the road against Manchester West on Tuesday, while MV looks to snap a mini two-game losing streak against a strong Pelham team.

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