A somewhat harrowing victory over Merrimack followed by a clean blowout of Nashua South last week gave the Pinkerton Academy girls’ basketball squad its second and third consecutive victories of the young 2015-16 season.
The Lady Astros marked their season record up to 2-0 in their first road contest of the season Tuesday night, Dec. 15, with a 42-35 besting of the Merrimack High Lady Tomahawks. But it was a victory that nearly slipped away from the locals.
After trailing by a slim, 7-6 tally after one period of play, the PA crew outscored its host 14-3 in the second quarter to carry a 20-10 lead to halftime.
And coach Lani Buskey’s bunch had a 13-point-advantage of 35-22 rolling into the final period, but Merrimack came way back in the final stanza and made the game more interesting than Pinkerton would have liked. The Lady Tomahawks outscored their guests by a 13-7 tally in period four, but the Lady Astros still managed to finish victorious.
For the second game in a row sophomore Amanda Lemire led Pinkerton in scoring (11 points), veteran Sarah McLeman also hit double figures (10), and Tori Overko nailed a pair of three-point buckets as PA remained undefeated after two fairly tight contests.
And the Nashua South Lady Purple Panthers – a national powerhouse team under coach John Fagula several decades ago before the one Nashua High School was split in two – showed just how far the mighty have fallen in the 53-16 hammering at the hands of the Lady Astros in Derry Friday night, Dec. 18.
The host Lady Astros held leads of 13-5, 31-10, and 45-12 at the ends of the first three quarters. And the victorious locals had nine players net points, with McLeman pacing the charge with 15 points, Brooke Kane tallying seven, and Lemire, Madison Lolicata, and Courtney Velho each collecting six.
It was then back to the road for the Lady Astros this past Monday, Dec. 21, to face the Salem High Lady Blue Devils.
And the locals drove their season record up to an excellent 4-0 with a 39-21 throttling of their hosts.
Pinkerton won each quarter, leading 12-4 after one quarter, 21-10 at the half, and 30-16 going into the last stanza.
Marissa Stacy led the offensive charge for the victors with her eight points, McLeman and Lemire contributed seven apiece, and Cydney Lessard and Tori Overko each claimed six. Lessard and Overko each sank two, three-point buckets.
