NH High School Basketball: Rivalry stoked for Pinkerton, Londonderry girls
Jan. 18—GIRLS BASKETBALL
Unbeaten Astros, Lancers on collision course —B3
THE RIVALRY ALONE guarantees that the stakes will be high whenever teams from Pinkerton Academy and Londonderry High School meet in an athletic contest. Some games mean more than others, however, and tonight's girls basketball matchup between the Astros and Lancers certainly has that big-game feel.
Pinkerton and Londonderry are both teams in the top tier of Division I this season. The Astros are 8-0, and the Lancers are unbeaten through seven games.
Friday's game will be part of a boys/girls doubleheader at Londonderry. The girls game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and the boys game will follow. The Pinkerton boys are also undefeated (8-0). Londonderry is 4-4, but has won three in a row.
"I wish my teams would treat this like it's just another game, but I have to honor the rivalry that exists and it will be a heightened game," said Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey, who experienced the rivalry as a player when she suited up for Pinkerton in the 1990s. "I want them to be fired up, but I don't want them to get too emotional.
"If one of the teams is down that year it doesn't really matter, because that game means so much," Buskey continued. "The team that is weaker that year, they play up for that game. That becomes their championship. If you're the favorite, you have everything to lose.
"It feels like a little mini-championship. It's a real playoff atmosphere."
Jon Doherty is in his third season as Londonderry's head coach and is seeking his first victory over Pinkerton. The Astros pulled away late when the teams met in each of the last two seasons.
"We're really young," Doherty said. "I have one senior on the team. My starting lineup is two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman. Still kind of learning how to handle leads, how to control a lead, how to make sure we don't blow a lead. We're blessed with a lot of talent. We're still working on the IQ piece and still working on the overall mentality piece."
The game will feature two of the state's top scorers in Pinkerton's Liz Lavoie (21.6 ppg) and Londonderry's Sammie Sullivan (19.1 ppg). Lavoie, who scored the 1,000th point of her career earlier this season, has committed to play at the University of New Hampshire.
Pinkerton's other starters are Syd Gerossie (13.8, 8.0 assists per game), Brooke Benz (8.6), Kaylee Dupuis (8.3) and Alex White (7.3, 10.0 rebounds per game). In addition, Emily Leonard receives significant minutes as the first player off the bench.
"I've seen Pinkerton play a lot this year," Doherty said. "They have the best offense in the state. They have a number of different scoring options. They have shooters. They get out and run. They have kids who come off the bench. They have some length. The rim's a little bit bigger for them."
Brooke Eacrett (14.2 ppg) and Gemma Murray (13.1 ppg) are among Londonderry's other key players.
Doherty said defense is his team's strength.
"We've been holding teams well below their average for most of the year," he said. "I think it's our speed. We are so fast. We switch on all screens, we jump ball screens and I think it just really disrupts other teams' rhythm and flow in order to get into any type of offense.
"I think the game is going to be close. It'll come down to, 'Can we force them out of their comfort zone before they force us out of ours?' I would say we're faster, but they're deeper. They have more weapons than we do, but my first five weapons are very, very good."
Buskey said the outcome will likely be determined by how well Pinkerton handles Londonderry's defensive pressure.
"They want you to play chaotic," she said. "If you allow that, it takes you out of your sets. If you are unwilling to slow the ball down and get into a set on offense they're gonna cause turnovers with their press. He'll press you the whole game if he has to.
"In this game there is no favorite. It's two evenly matched teams. This is gonna be fun."
Monadnock's Colbert dies at 53
Rob Colbert, the varsity head coach for the Monadnock Regional girls program, died Monday. He was 53.
Colbert took over as Monadnock's head coach when Bobby Fortes left the program the week before the start of the 2022-23 season. The Huskies went 10-10 last season and advanced to the NHIAA Division III quarterfinals.
Monadnock is 4-4 this season. Tonight's game at Fall Mountain has been postponed.
Colbert was also the men's basketball coach at Keene State College from 1999 to 2015. He was named the Little East Conference's Coach of the Year twice during that time (2002 and 2004), and guided the Owls to three NCAA Division III tournament appearances. Keene State went 25-6 and reached the Elite 8 in 2003-04.
North-South rivalry resumes
The Nashua North (4-4) boys will attempt to end a four-game losing streak when they play city rival Nashua South (6-2) at home tonight.
Many picked the Titans to be among the top teams in Division I this season, but their losing streak reached four games with a 55-54 setback against Keene on Wednesday. North had a 54-53 lead on a Parth Miglani layup with 54 seconds to play, but Keene's Fitch Hennessy capped the scoring with 14 seconds remaining.
The Titans led 42-37 after three quarters, but the Blackbirds began the fourth with a 10-0 run. North's other losses during their current streak came against Merrimack (51-47), Bedford (81-76) and Goffstown (75-67).
South enters tonight's matchup on a five-game winning streak.
Division IV showdown in Littleton
One of the biggest boys games on tonight's menu will take place in Division IV, where Profile will make the 5-mile trip to battle Littleton. Both teams are 10-0. Derryfield, which is also 10-0, is the only other unbeaten team in the division.
Eight of Littleton's 10 victories have come by more than 10 points. Profile won the Mike Lee Holiday Bash by beating Sanborn 79-54 in the tournament's championship game. The Patriots, who will play seven of their final eight games on the road, also earned a 59-51 victory over Division I Windham in the semifinals.
Tonight's game will follow the Profile-Littleton girls game, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
Tournament format
Here's the tournament format for each NHIAA division:
Division I boys: 15 teams (one bye)
Division II boys: 14 teams (two byes)
Division III boys: 14 teams (two byes)
Division IV boys: 17 teams (play-in game)
Division I girls: 14 teams (two byes)
Division II girls: 15 teams (one bye)
Division III girls: 15 teams (one bye)
Division IV girls: 16 teams (no byes)
