The Londonderry High girls’ basketball squad boosted their Division I record to an impressive 14-2 with defeats of two opponents in road contests last week.
The Lady Lancers had an excellent rebound from their frustrating Feb. 13 loss to Manchester Central in a 49-21 throttling of the host Dover High Green Wave, whose D-I record stood at 8-7 on the seacoast Tuesday, Feb. 17.
The only quarter in which the scoring was close between the opposing squads was the second, with the Lady Lancers racing out to a 13-3 lead in period number one and grasping a 24-15 advantage at halftime.
The 13-2 Londonderry side then outscored its host by a commanding 23-6 tally in the second half to head home with the lopsided victory.
Senior Brittany Roche was a two-way force for the victorious locals, netting a team-high 11 points and playing some great defense. Senior forward Tara Burke contributed 10 points and hauled down eight rebounds. Londonderry sank seven, three-point shots in the win, with Roche nailing three of them against a Dover crew that had won three of its previous four divisional contests heading into the evening of hoop.
“We played more like ourselves tonight for the first time in a couple of weeks,” said coach Nick Theos. “Our offense needs to come along, but we were all over the place defensively and the team was into the game. This is a step in the right direction.”
Then last Friday night, Feb. 20, the Lady Lancers headed out to Keene to take on the host Lady Blackbirds. The ride home was a pleasant one, as Theos’ crew saddled its host with a 67-29 blowout.
“We came out strong in the first, leading 26-3, and never looked back,” said Theos. “We got contributions from the entire team. Everyone played and played hard, and this was a good team win going into the final week of the season.”
The Lancers won every period, leading by those 23 points after one, 39-14 at the half, and 52-22 going into quarter four.
Junior low-post standout Ashley Berube enjoyed a big night with 16 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Noelle Lambert contributed nine points, point-guard Jackie Luckhardt scored eight and dealt out eight assists, and Jenna Conroy was good for eight points as well.
The 14-2 Lancer girls have two games left in the regular season and are currently tied for first place in the division with Bedford High School. They face the 10-6 Manchester Memorial Lady Crusaders’ squad on Feb. 24 at home, and then finish the season on the road against Nashua North (10-5).