Three exceptional post-season victories have given. The Londonderry High School Girls’ Basketball team a chance to take the school’s first Division I title in a decade.
The Lancers had a 73-29 win in the first round, went onto a 55-41 victory in the quarters, then took care of business in the semifinals against the Windham Jaguars to move onto the state championship this coming Saturday.
In the first round game against Nashua South (#13), on Monday night, March 3, in Londonderry, the number two seeded Lancers held the Purple Panthers to single-digit scoring in the first three quarters and came away with a 44-point victory.
Nashua managed just 10-points in the first half and LHS took a 35-10 advantage at the break. The two teams went 20-9 in the third quarter and 18-10 in the fourth for the 73-29 win.
Junior guard/forward Sammie Sullivan had a big game, leading both sides in points with 27, including four, three-points and going 3-3 at the foul line.
Senior guard Mia Giampa had 15-points, including three, three-pointers.
Sophomore guard Gemma Murray finished with 13-points and junior guard Brooke Eacrett had 11-points and was five for six at the foul line.
Londonderry moved on to the quarterfinals three nights later, in Londonderry, against the Salem Blue Devils (#7). The game turned out to be Salem head coach, Ricky Oliver’s final game of his career, with the 14-point LHS win.
The game was a much closer match-up than the previous contest, with Salem tying LHS 38-38 near the end of the third quarter, but the Lancers pulled away in the fourth, outscoring their opponents 14-3 for the comfortable finish.
Sullivan, once again led the team in points with 23. Eacrett had 13-points, Murray finished with eight and Giampa contributed with six-points.
With Windham beating Pinkerton Academy 44-41 the same night, at Windham High School, the Lancers moved onto the Semifinals at Exeter High School against the #3 seeded Jaguars at Exeter on Monday night.
In that game, despite having to play from behind throughout much of the first half, the Lancers started draining baskets down the stretch for the 51-36 victory over Windham.
The State Championship is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 15, at 4 p.m. at the University of New Hampshire.