Victories over a strong Bishop Guertin group and a weak Concord High crew last week left the Londonderry High girls’ basketball squad with a 5-1 record in tough Division I.
The defending state champs edged previously-undefeated Guertin by a 50-44 tally in Nashua Tuesday, Jan. 5, and blasted winless Concord by a 49-21 score at LHS on Friday, Jan. 8.
Coach Nick Theos couldn’t have hoped for a much better start to the Guertin game than his Lady Lancers gave him, sprinting out to a 9-0 lead and amazingly keeping the skilled hosts scoreless during that opening stanza.
At halftime the LHS lead sat at 27-14, and Theos and his charges headed to their locker room with lots of reasons to feel proud and excited.
“We started out great, the girls played well, and defensively we came out just the way I wanted,” said the coach.
The host Lady Cardinals outscored the locals by a 30-23 tally in the second half as part of their comeback efforts. But Londonderry was able to hang tight and collect the win.
Senior guard Jackie Luckhardt netted 11 points, dealt out six assists, and collected six steals.
“She played so well, she just tired out in the fourth quarter,” said Theos. “Kelsey Coffey contributed nine points, including a big three-pointer off an in-bounds (pass) in the fourth quarter.”
Freshman Ashley Evans added 10 points and hauled down eight rebounds as well. Seasoned veterans Kat Wells and Kate Balcom both played big minutes and big roles for the state champs.
But the Lady Lancers were far less tested by the now 0-6 Concord contingent three nights later, with the locals driving out to an early lead and never truly being tested in the decision.
“A physical game,” said the LHS coach. “We got out to a 17-5 first quarter lead and slowly pulled away from them.”
Coffey paced the Londonderry offense with a relatively modest 11 points, Luckhardt filled just about every box on the stat sheet with nine points, nine steals, six assists, and five rebounds, and Evans was good for four points, nine boards, and some five blocked shots.
“We have a big week and a half in front of us, with Bedford, Exeter, and Merrimack all away, so we have to keep getting better and working hard,” added Theos after the Concord win.
The Lady Lancers were scheduled to travel to the home of the Exeter High School Blue Hawks (2-3) on Tuesday, Jan. 12, after the Londonderry Times press time, and then Bedford High School on Thursday, Jan. 14 to face the undefeated Bulldogs.
This will be the second contest of the season against Bedford. The first resulted in Londonderry’s only loss (45-33).