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MANCHESTER, N.H. — The state Final Four is a good time to show off a tough defense. But for Pinkerton, it was just more of the same stellar work it has displayed the final month.

The second-seeded Astros advanced to their third title game in the 41-year history of the tourney, dominating third-seeded Londonderry 60-39 last night at the Southern New Hampshire University Fieldhouse.

 LONDONDERRY, N.H. — Courtney Morissette knows her Londonderry team didn’t play that well yesterday in Class L quarterfinal contest against Nashua North.   “There was a couple travels here and there and we turned the ball over quite a lot but we really wanted to win,” she said. “We really wanted to make it to the semifinals.” Morissette turned in a strong fourth quarter, scoring seven points, and helping her team outscore Nashua North 23-5 in the final period. With that, No. 3 Londonderry earned a berth in semifinals against No. 2 Pinkerton despite turning the ball over 20 times against Nashua North in an ugly game for both teams. The Lancers won 54-33. The game is 6 p.m. Tuesday at Southern New Hampshire University.   The other semifinal will feature three-time defending champion Winnacunnet against Keene at 8 p.m. “I’m not happy with how we played,” Londonderry coach John Fagula said, but added: “Sometimes pretty or ugly doesn’t matter. You’ve just got to get to the next game. I think we did enough things defensively to keep ourselves in the game.”   Morissette got in some early foul trouble, committing two fouls in the first three minutes of the contest. That forced her to the bench for a good part of the first half. Morissette, who will play basketball at Rhode Island College next year, was eager to return to the game because her future college coach was in the stands watching. “That was pretty nerve-wracking,” she said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to go back in.” Leading just 31-28 after three quarters, Morissette and junior Jaymi Uphold sparked the fourth-quarter rally.   Morissette did it with her strong shooting and rebounding and Uphold did it with her hustle against the sixth-seeded visitors. Morissette, who finished with six rebounds, including five in the second half, scored the first basket of the fourth to give her team a five-point edge. Uphold then made a quick steal and passed to Callie King who scored to put Londonderry up seven. About 30 seconds later, Uphold drew a foul and got to the free throw line where she hit the first of two free throws and then chased down a loose ball after missing her second one. That hustle play led to another Morissette basket and a 10-point lead. “We had a few spurts off a couple steals and a few layups early in that fourth quarter which helped,” Fagula said.   Uphold converted 5 of 6 free throws in the final period and had three steals in the game. “Jaymi is great with steals and a great defender,” Morissette said. “We owe a lot of this win to her. She did an awesome job.” Uphold added: “It was a sloppy game but in the end we picked it up definitely.” Ready for the showdown Now it’s time for Londonderry to play Pinkerton, which beat Londonderry 39-34 on Jan. 15. Morissette played on the same summer team with Astros seniors Laura Pierce and AJ Guidi. “They’re a great outside team and inside team,” Morissette said. “AJ really crashes the boards a lot but I think if we play our best and we keep hustling, we could potentially beat them.” Fagula added: “Pierce and Guidi are experienced kids and have been in the final four a bunch of times. They are a very disciplined-type team. Physically they are not really impressive. When they come out, you look and say ‘How do these guys win 17, 18 games?’ But they are very disciplined. (Coach John) Barry does a very good job of coaching and they know who is supposed to have the ball at the right times and those kids have done some good things in late-game situations.”

LONDONDERRY — Maybe things came to easy for Londonderry at the start. Maybe the adrenaline of the first playoff game wore off too fast. Maybe Merrimack’s zone defense became too stingy.

Trailing by four entering the fourth quarter, Londonderry's girls outscored Manchester Central 17-8 to grab a 44-39 victory in a Class L battle for third place. Savanna Butterfield scored nine of her 13 points in the final frame for the Lancers (12-4 in Class L). Danielle Crutcher played in her first game in five weeks since being ill.

Timberlane connected on seven 3-pointers, but a 17-4 discrepancy at the free throw line for Londonderry proved decisive in a 49-39 victory for the Lancers. Jamie Uphold had 11 points and five steals for the Lancers and Amanda Butterfield had eight points nd nine rebounds.

Londonderry survived without a couple of key cogs to defeat Exeter, 66-35.

Without junior Daniele Crutcher (meningitis) and sophomore Lindsey Bolduc (wrist), the Lancers got strong efforts from Callie King (game-high 20 points and 5 steals), Savanna Butterfield (11 points and 12 rebounds) and Allie Moloney (8 assists).

After hanging within six points of powerhouse Winnacunnet through the first half, foul trouble hampered Londonderry, forcing a change in defenses that helped the Warriors pull away for a deceptive 69-41 victory. Savanna Butterfield was a commanding presence for the Lancers, finishing with a game-high 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Londonderry survived a second-quarter scoring drought to defeat Manchester Memorial, 48-43. Allie Moloney stoked up the Lancer offense with seven assists to go with eight points while Savanna Butterfield had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Lucy Holewa (7 points) and Lindsey Bolduc (5 assists) provided quality minutes off the bench in Londonderry's 55-19 victory over Concord.