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DaSilva, Windham take down Owls

PLAISTOW — If Windham senior Joey DaSilva can just master his free throw shooting, the rest of New Hampshire basketball is in deep trouble.

As it is, after two games, DaSilva is already proving to be a serious menace.

DaSilva pumped in 32 points for the second straight game Friday night as the Jaguars (2-0) subdued Timberlane 70-46. He also drilled six 3-pointers, giving him 13 trifectas in those two games.

He also had three assists and brought the ball downcourt much of the game as the team quarterback.

"I actually thought we did a pretty good job on him tonight," said Timberlane coach Jeff Baumann. "He makes the other guys on their team better."

If there has been one minor flaw in DaSilva's game, it's been free throw shooting consistency. He finished a respectable 8 of 13 for the night but he was only 1 of 4 in a shaky second quarter and has struggled off and on.

"I've struggled with it a little since my freshman year," said DaSilva, who is headed to Endicott College. "It's something I have to keep working at."

DaSilva was, however, a perfect 2 for 2 in a dominating first quarter, both for him and the Jaguars. While drilling three 3-pointers, DaSilva opened the game with 15 points as Windham zoomed to a 21-4 lead entering the second quarter.

"That was a step forward for us after our last game, when we fell behind 19-3 at the start," said Windham coach EJ Perry. "I think we're playing pretty well for two games but we have to be more consistent."

Indeed, when DaSilva cooled off in the second quarter, the Owls rallied a bit and outscored Windham 17-15 in the frame.

But the 36-21 halftime deficit was as close as the Owls would get as there was just too much DaSilva and too much of the Jaguars in general.

Joining DaSilva in double figures for the Jaguars was Rocky Heres with 12 points while hustling sophomore George Fortin came off the bench to chip in with eight points while grabbing six rebounds.

For Timberlane, Ashton Ventola led the scoring with 15 points while Kelvin Carrion added eight. But Baumann was generally not happy with his team's performance.

"We just didn't come ready to play tonight," said Baumann. "We're better than we showed."