It was just a hunch.

Late in the fourth quarter, with his team in a tight match-up against 4-0 St. Thomas Aquinas of Dover, Pelham basketball coach Todd Kress put senior center Kris Fournier back on the floor.

Fournier, an undersized, 6- foot-4 big man, had struggled throughout the contest, visibly frustrating his coach and leaving his team without a solid inside presence for most of the Friday, Jan. 5 contest.

“He didn’t play well for three quarters, but the choices were to go small and hope we didn’t get beat or go back to Kris,” said Kress. “He’s a senior, he’s a captain of this team, and I just had to believe he would go in there and play hard. That’s all I asked him to do.”

Fournier responded with six points, four rebounds, one steal, and two blocks in the game’s final minutes.

Pelham won, 78-73.

Though the points were a bonus, Kress said it was the blocks and Fournier’s inside presence that made the difference because the Pythons were getting beat off the dribble consistently in the fourth quarter, making him their last line of defense.

“He just emphatically threw them back,” Kress said.

“I’m very proud of him because he’s been frustrated this year. He’s had a tough time with bigger stronger kids. He’s been playing on a bad leg, but he still believes in himself, and he showed it tonight.”

Sophomore Justin Hojlo poured in 38 points in the win, including 10 straight during a 19-5 Pelham run in the second period to counter a 10-point run by the Saints to open the quarter.

Kress added that senior guard and co-captain Mark Catalano had his best game in a Pelham uniform, playing 31 minutes of intense basketball on both sides of the court, including opening the game with back-to-back three-pointers.

The victory was especially meaningful to the team, which had lost three straight for the first time since 2003, when it was still competing in Class M. Although two losses at the Lowell Holiday Basketball Tournament – where Pelham failed to three-peat – did not count in the standings, a 67-54 loss at Class I newcomer Portsmouth was only Pelham’s second defeat in league play in as many years.

The Pythons were tied with Portsmouth, who just moved down from Class L, at halftime, but shot only 9-for- 32 in the second half. Ricky Costa led the Pythons in scoring with 16.

“We got beat Tuesday night (at Portsmouth), and the kids really overreacted to the loss because these kids aren’t used to losing,” said Kress. “We know that we’re not going 18-0. We’re a one-trick pony. We run up and down the floor, and if it’s good enough, it’s good enough. And tonight, with this team and this crowd, it was good enough.”