It wasn’t the smoothest victory a Londonderry High girls’ basketball squad ever collected, but new coach Nick Theos’ defending Division I champions began their 2014-15 season in Hudson last Friday night, Dec. 12, by handing the host Alvirne High Lady Broncos a 62-27 thumping.
Theos’ Lady Lancers led by an 18-8 count after one quarter and by a 30-16 tally at halftime, and they busted the contest wide open by outscoring their host by a 19-3 margin in the third period.
The defending state champs – who lost star point-guard Aliza Simpson and Casey Evans from the title-winning team – had three players finish in double figures in points and a total of eight cagers net points in the lopsided victory.
Theos had reasons to be pleased with the work of his charges, even though the performance had its flaws.
“We got everybody their first taste of action, which I wasn’t expecting,” said Theos. “We didn’t play our best, we were sloppy at times, but we beat a very good team tonight.”
Both squads sputtered somewhat during the early going, but Londonderry netted 12 of the final 15 points of the opening quarter to hold the 10-point advantage (18-8).
The Lady Lancers enjoyed a marked size advantage and used it – as well as some fine passing – in building up the double-digit bulge going into the second period.
The LHS lead grew to 14 points at 30-16 by halftime, with junior Ashley Berube tallying 14 points on her own to pace all scorers. But she and senior Tara Burke both had three personal fouls at the break, and that was reason for concern for Theos.
However, the visitors busted the contest wide open by netting 15 unanswered points during the first six minutes of the third stanza, with Alvirne not managing any points at all until claiming a three-pointer with just 1:40 left in that period.
The Lady Lancers hit eight of the 14 shots they attempted from the floor during the quarter while the Lady Broncos sank only one of the 11 shots, and the Londonderry lead sat at a full 30 points (49-19) rolling into the last eight minutes of play.
Berube finished the evening with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds, senior sharp-shooter Brittany Roche scored 13, and sophomore Kelsey Coffey was good for 10 points. Burke fell just short of double digits, netting nine points, and junior guard Jackie Luckhardt dished out seven assists in the winning effort.