RallyNorth.net

Londonderry rallies again, nips Spaulding in semis

All the points Cody Ball has piled up in his Londonderry High career. All the jumpers knocked down. All the physical rebounds.

And the biggest play of his life might end up being a dive on the floor.

Down a point 44-43 early in the fourth quarter, there was a wild scramble for a loose ball. Flying out of nowhere, Ball hit the floor and tapped the basketball smartly ahead to teammate Jake Coleman, who relayed it up to Marc Corey for the breakaway layup and the lead ... a lead the Lancers would never give up.

"I'm just trying to make hustle plays right now, anything I can to help this team win," said the St. Anselm-bound senior Ball. "I saw Jake running ahead, and I saw their guy try to dive on it, so I just slapped it ahead to him."

Top-seeded Londonderry moved to 21-0 in state and 23-1 overall, holding off Spaulding, 58-51.

Sophomore Jake Coleman led the Lancers, who face Pinkerton Saturday here for the title, with 19 points.

Without him in the first half, in which he scored 10 on 4 of 5 shooting, Londonderry might never have had a chance to rally. The rest of the Lancers were just 4 of 18.

"We got him open, and he took over at the right time," said coach Nate Stanton of his sophomore. 

Still, Londonderry trailed at the break, 29-21.

With Ball struggling (5 of 12 from the field) and fellow senior Marc Corey (2 of 5) being doubled with every touch, the Lancers needed offense. They got it from senior Joe Kwiatkowski, who netted 13 of his season-high 16 points in the second half.

"We're not just a one-dimensional team, Jake can step up as you saw, Marc can too. Tonight Joey was huge," said Stanton. "I was waiting for him to have a breakout game. Tonight he stepped up. He's really not in the scouting report, but he should be. He does whatever it takes to win. Tonight we needed scoring, and he did it."

Ball did land the kill shot, too, from behind the arc, nailing a three just after his floor burns produced the Corey breakaway.

"This feels great," said Ball. "We've got the chance to make history and play for Londonderry's first boys basketball title. And we get to do it here against our rivals."