The Londonderry High girls’ basketball squad had its 10-game winning streak in tough Division I come to an end with a frustrating overtime loss to the Manchester Central Little Green at LHS last Friday night, Feb. 13.
The contest was knotted up at 41-41 at the end of regulation time, but the visiting Central crew had Caitlyn Vincent sink a three-point shot as time expired in the extra stanza to give her Manchester team a 47-44 victory.
While the 12-2 Lady Lancers came into the evening plenty hot with 10 consecutive D-I victories, 10-4 Central was also fairly warm having won seven of its previous eight divisional contests and two in a row. So one winning run rolled forward that evening while another ended.
“We had our chances to pull out a win, but they made the big plays down the stretch and we didn’t,” lamented LHS first-year varsity coach Nick Theos.
Lady Lancers’ senior forward Brittany Roche and standout junior low-post player Ashley Berube each netted 13 points for the host team, while sophomore guard Kelsey Coffey tallied 10. Junior point-guard Jackie Luckhardt dished out 10 assists on a losing night.
“This was a tough-fought game,” said coach Theos. “Central shot very well early and had a 17-12 lead after one (quarter). Brittany caught fire in the second with three (three-pointers), and we took a 26-24 lead to halftime.”
Theos’ troop had a chance to win the contest in regulation time, holding a one-point lead with approximately a minute to go and an opportunity to build on the tiny advantage with free-throws. But the game tally ended up at 41-41 at the end of quarter four, and overtime became necessary.
Caitlyn Vincent then became the hero for the visitors, and the Lady Lancers found themselves in the unfamiliar position of lamenting a loss.
“We need to be a more balanced scoring team and not rely on three people to carry the scoring. But in the end, it’s one loss to a good team in a long season,” said coach Theos.