A longtime rivalry continued Monday night, and it did not disappoint.

The Pembroke Academy parking lot was filled as were the bleachers, and the noise inside was deafening. The energy poured onto the court from the jump, and it boosted the Spartans all the way through as the crowd roared with every shot made.

The atmosphere helped the Spartans jump out to an early lead they’d never relinquish in an 80-41 boys’ basketball win over a tough Merrimack Valley team.

“A lot of people don’t really think a crowd makes a difference, but they’re mistaken,” said Pembroke head coach Mike Donnell. “They’re what they call the sixth man. They were loud, they were proud and they make a huge difference. They put a jolt of excitement into our guys who want to respond.”

The Spartans started with an 8-2 run, forcing Merrimack Valley coach Kelly O’Brien to call a timeout. But the Spartans were relentless and just kept on generating turnovers with their strong zone defense and draining seemingly every shot. Pembroke ended the first quarter ahead, 35-9.

“It just buried us at that point and against a great team like this, that’s tough to come back from,” O’Brien said. “You’re chipping away, try chipping away, but you make any mistakes in the game like that, at that point, when you’re already down, it’s goodnight.

“Credit, kudos to them. They came out and dictated the tempo. Everything they wanted to do they did it, and they manhandled us. Our goal is you can’t let this happen again.”

These two came into the game with the same record, 8-1, with both teams’ only loss coming against Pelham. At first glance, it seemed evenly matched, and in some ways it was. But something was different in the air that made the Spartans shoot lights out.

Merrimack Valley improved in the second and third quarters as junior guard Brady Smith drained a few 3-pointers and senior guard Aiden Gray found his spot in the mid-range. However, the hole they were in was very difficult to climb out of, and the Pride’s paint presence was squashed by Pembroke’s noise and their two forwards, junior Javien Sinclair and senior Devin Riel.

“It was just a statement game. This is a battle for the (No.) 1 seed, and we executed what the game plan was for the coaches. They put it out there. We just executed it,” Riel said.

“We got to stay confident. We’ve had a couple of disappointing years at the end, but we just got to stay confident. We got to close it out for our team, for our fans, because we’ve built a brotherhood around here. So we just got to keep closing it out and finish strong and then go into March.”

As they have done all season, the Spartans’ strong defense complemented their ability to score on the fast break and allowed for guards senior Evan Berkeley and junior Zac Bemis to shoot the 3 and drive inside during MV’s defensive scrambles. Berkeley led the Spartans with 17 points and Bemis had 12. Twelve Pembroke players got on the scoresheet in the win.

The biggest misstep for the Pride was their struggles to haul in rebounds and the turnovers, but going down early against a competitive team like the Spartans is never easy. Despite the loss, the Pride still have plenty of basketball left in the season, and they will host Pembroke on their senior night later this month.

“They lost confidence throughout the game,” O’Brien said. “You know, I get it we’re down 30, that happens, you lose confidence, but I want to see that confidence come back in their eyes and know that we are a good team.”

For Pembroke, nothing changed after the win as it had a game at Souhegan less than 24 hours and another on Friday. The Spartans’ goal is to keep on winning because, as it stands, a loss or two can drop the team from first in Division II down to sixth place.

“This is a great victory. It’s a statement victory,” Donnell said he told his team in the locker room. “We beat an 8-1 team by 40 points, and this is something you want to be very proud of. You want to enjoy the excitement. You want to enjoy the moment. Go home, enjoy it with your family. When you wake up in the morning, it’s a new day.”

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com