A 22-point drubbing of Salem followed by a sloppy 11-point besting of Winnacunnet last week sent the Londonderry High girls’ basketball squad into this week with an 11-1 record and hefty winning streak in tough Division I.
LHS first-year varsity coach Nick Theos could be thankful for many things following his team’s 63-41 drubbing of the Salem High Lady Blue Devils on the road Thursday night, Jan. 29.
Theos watched his Lady Lancers sprint out to leads of 21-8 after one quarter and 39-20 at the half, and nine Londonderry players got involved in the scoring as the locals shoved their Division I record up to 10-1 with their eighth straight D-I win. Salem slipped to 5-6 with the defeat.
LHS sophomore guard Kelsey Coffey scored 16 points – including four three-pointers – in the first half alone to help Londonderry to its 19-point halftime advantage.
Point guard Jackie Luckhardt recorded a double-double (12 points, 10 assists) while low post stalwart Ashley Berube managed the same impressive feat as well (14 points, 10 rebounds).
Including Coffey’s four treys, the victorious Lady Lancers sank a total of eight three-point buckets in downing their hosts.
The LHS cagers then found themselves back on their own court Saturday afternoon, Jan. 31, playing host to a Winnacunnet High of Hampton Lady Warriors’ crew with a modest 5-5 D-I record.
Londonderry won by a 58-47 score, but Theos’ crew wasn’t on top of its game by a long shot – playing uncharacteristically passively on a Saturday afternoon after the game was snowed out the night before.
“I saw several chances where we could have put them away, but give Winnacunnet credit. They kept working and hitting shots and staying in it,” said Theos.
The Lady Lancers led by eight points (16-8) after one period and nine (27-18) at halftime.
It looked as though the hosts were running away with the game during the first five minutes of the third stanza, building their advantage up to 17 points at 38-21. But Winnacunnet responded by nailing three consecutive three-point buckets down the stretch in that period, and after three periods had been completed the LHS lead sat at 44-34. And it was still very much a game.
Londonderry’s advantage bounced between seven and 11 points during the entire fourth quarter, and the hosts would up being able to get the win by double digits, to Theos’ pleasure.
“It was definitely a very sloppy win, but I still like this team a lot, and if you can get through a game like this and still win by double digits, you must be doing something right,” said Theos.
Berube led the LHS offensive charge by scoring 15 points, Luckhardt was good for 14, Brittany Roche netted nine, and Coffey contributed eight.
The Lady Lancers will travel to Derry on Friday, Feb. 6 for the annual Ball Family Trophy game against rival Pinkerton Academy. The Lady Astros currently have a 7-3 Division 1 record and are coming off of a tough loss to the Nashua North Lady Titans in the Gate City.