RallyNorth.net

Lancers down Astros

Saturday, February, 06 By Kyle Gaudette
Correspondent

LONDONDERRY – In a clash of two New Hampshire girl powerhouses Saturday afternoon, Londonderry defeated rival Pinkerton 39-28 to improve to 11-2 on the season, while the Astros fell to 10-2 with their second straight loss.
Jackie Luckhardt led the way for Londonderry with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Kate Balcom added 7 points to go along with 13 rebounds, and was a spark plug on both ends of the floor.
 “We worked really hard,” said Londonderry head coach Nick Theos. “I don’t know if it’s as noticeable to everyone else as it is to me. There are not many plays that Kate (Balcom) takes off or that Jackie takes off or anyone does.
“They all worked pretty hard, especially defensively. We’re not a perfect team by any stretch, but I know defensively I’m going to get maximum effort each game.”
The defending state champion Lancers used a full-court-press to disrupt Pinkerton. Even when the Astros managed to get the ball past half-court, they were often met with a Lancer storming in from behind to get the steal or force an errant pass.
“We want to give the impression that we’re pressing without getting ourselves in trouble and giving up layups,” said Theos. “You can do that when you have kids like Kate and Jackie. It becomes very difficult when you don’t have the athletes. But we do, and they’re able to make up a lot of ground that other kids can’t. But that’s a good team we beat today. They had a rough shooting-night.”
Pinkerton shot 10-40 (25%) from the field en route to a season-low 28 points. Londonderry only managed to go 12-44 (27%), but made up for it on the free-throw line, where it was 15 of 22 to Pinkerton’s 4 of 14.
The Lancers took a 15-10 lead into halftime, and were able to push it to 24-14 heading into the fourth quarter.
The two teams had traded buckets in the fourth when Luckhardt banked home a jumper from the free-throw line to make it 30-16. Pinkerton fought back when Marissa Stacy hit a three, followed by a bucket from Amanda Lemire to pull the Astros to within nine at 34-25.
Luckhardt drew a foul on Londonderry’s ensuing possession, and knocked down the two foul shots to put the Lancers up by double figures with under two to play.
Ashley Evans scored 6 points and grabbed 7 boards for Londonderry. In her first matchup against her school’s heated rival, the freshman center looked unfazed.
“Ashley was physically and aggressively engaged the entire game, which was awesome,” said Theos. “That’s not easy for a freshman to do in this type of matchup.”
Stacy led Pinkerton with 11 points, while Lemire added 6. Courtney Velho scored all of her seven points in the second half.

Londonderry 39, Pinkerton 28
Pinkerton (28): Stacy 4-0-11, Velho 2-3-7, Lemire 2-1-6, McLeman 2-0-4, Kane 0-0-0, Overko 0-0-0, Frost 0-0-0, Bousquet 0-0-0, Lolicata 0-0-0, Brouillet 0-0-0, D’Onoforio 0-0-0. Totals 10-4-28
Londonderry (42): Luckhardt 4-6-14, Balcom 2-3-7, Evans 2-2-6, McGurn 2-0-4, Coffey 1-2-4, Wells 1-2-4, Sonia 0-0-0, Dumaresq 0-0-0, Greeley 0-0-0. Totals 12-15-39
3-pointers: P — Stacy 3, Lemire 1; L — None
Pinkerton (12-2, 10-2):     4 6 4 14 — 28
Londonderry (13-2, 11-2):     9 6 9 18 — 39