Tomahawks bounced in prelim

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Photo by JOE MARCHILENA Merrimack's Molly Flynn takes the ball away from Londonderry's Danielle Crutcher as Jaymi Uphold looks on during Tuesday night's Class L preliminary round game.

Enlarge

Photo by JOE MARCHILENA Merrimack's Rachel Carter throws up a shot during Tuesday's game.

Enlarge

Photo by JOE MARCHILENA Ashley Darling of Merrimack looks for someone to pass to after a grabbing a rebound in front of teammate Maggie Kenney.

Enlarge

Photo by JOE MARCHILENA Merrimack's Molly Flynn takes the ball away from Londonderry's Danielle Crutcher as Jaymi Uphold looks on during Tuesday night's Class L preliminary round game.

Enlarge

LONDONDERRY – The Merrimack High School girls basketball team did the one thing every high-seeded team doesn’t want to see in the preliminary round of the playoffs.

The No. 14 Tomahawks made things interesting.

After falling behind 11-0 in the first two minutes of Tuesday’s Class L playoff game against No. 3 Londonderry, the ’Hawks went on a 22-5 run and clung to a three-point lead at halftime. But thanks to their outside shooting, the Lancers made a run of their own in the third quarter and went on to win, 63-45, to advance to the quarterfinals.

Londonderry will host No. 6 Nashua North on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Merrimack, which was the No. 3 seed a year ago and was upset in the first round by Nashua South, led by as many as nine in the second quarter.

A pair of 3-pointers by Londonderry’s Callie King and Lindsey Bolduc just before halftime made it a three-point game, and the Lancers outscored the ’Hawks, 21-4, in the third quarter. Fifteen of those points came off 3-pointers, including three more by King, who finished the night with a game-high 25 points.

“I think we startled them,” Merrimack coach Kindyll Dorsey. “I talked to (Londonderry coach John) Fagula after. We made it more of a game than he wanted.

“You either give up (Savanna) Butterfield inside or Callie King, and she did an outstanding job in the second half. You could see it in her eyes, she wasn’t going to let her team lose.”

King had five of Londonderry’s nine 3-pointers on the night while Jaymi Uphold added 13 points, including three 3s, and Butterfield had 10 markers for the Lancers (15-4).

Merrimack (8-11) was led by Rachael Carter, who had 19 points, 11 of which came during the ’Hawks run in the first half. Ashley Darling added 10 points and Kate Cole chipped in with eight, including two 3s.

After being postponed a day, Tuesday’s game looked like it might be over less than two minutes into the first quarter. With just 1:49 off the clock, Londonderry led 11-0 and Merrimack had already turned the ball over twice.

But the ’Hawks started chipping away, with Carter going 4-for-4 from the free throw line, and by the end of the first quarter, Merrimack only trailed by two points. Another free throw and two jump shots by Carter and a 3-pointer by Cole gave Merrimack a 22-16 lead with 3:54 left in the first half.

“The first five minutes of the game, it was like ‘wow,’” Fagula said. “Good night. Unfortunately, you’ve got to go out and play four full (quarters).”

While Merrimack was converting on offense, it was also holding Londonderry to one shot on each possession.

But after the ’Hawks took a 27-18 lead on a jump shot by Maycie Wheelin, Bolduc and King hit back-to-back 3s for the Lancers.

It was more of the same in the third quarter, as King nailed another 3 less than 15 seconds into the half.

By the time Merrimack scored its first points of the half, the lead was already gone.

“We weren’t disrupting their rhythm,” Dorsey said. “We were going out on them when they were already in their rhythm in the third quarter. In the first half, we were getting on them.

“They had a lot of open shots in the first half and I knew that might have been a problem in the second half. We switched and went to a 3-2 (zone). We could have folded, but I know my girls have a lot of heart. We played very hard and never gave up.”