Londonderry boys basketball knocks off Bedford on buzzer beater

BEDFORD - The Bedford and Londonderry high school boys basketball teams put together 32 minutes of basketball that built like a great theatrical production.

For the rousing climax to the story, there was James Buttafuococ grabbing a rebound and putting it back up at the horn. As he crashed to the ground the ball dropped into the cylinder as time expired to set off a massive celebration and give Londonderry a 49-47 victory over the Bulldogs.

“That’s all in the heart,” Buttafuoco said. “Our coach teaches us that no matter the size it’s all heart. That’s what we did. We put our heart into the game and come out with the dub.”

The basket was Buttafuoco’s lone points of the game, but he did pull down a game-high 10 rebounds. His six offensive rebounds was twice as many as Bedford had as a team.

The Lancers win came in large part to its bend-but-don’t-break defense. Bedford took control of much of the middle two quarters but could never pull away. The Bulldogs had numerous opportunities to push the lead to eight or nine points but kept failing to do so.

The Lancers outscored Bedford 14-6 over the final six minutes to pull out the win. Londonderry had eight players score points, led by 13 from senior Ethan May and nine from senior Max DesRosiers.

“I love how different guys step up,” Londonderry coach Nate Stanton said. “They’re into it, they’re selfish, and they work. They’re working together and playing with a purpose.”

The Lancers also got a big-time performance from sophomore Dean Haggett, who had eight points, with six of those in the fourth quarter.

“Best sophomore in the state,” Stanton said. “We’ve been working with him. We met after practice last night and I said ‘tomorrow’s your night’. (Friday) he did it. He’s been looking great in practice, and now he’s translating it to the game.”

The Bulldogs were led by 17 points from senior Thomas Morgan and 11 from senior Harrison LeGuollon, but Bedford was dominated on the glass 34-20 and turned the ball over 14 times compared to just seven takeaways.

“I thought in the first half we gave up way too many offensive rebounds which really hurt us,” Bedford coach Mark Elmendorf said. “They must have had eight-10 points off second-chance shots. I thought we did a great job on Ethan May. It was just a good game. I thought the defense on the last possession was good D. The ball just bounced their way.”

The win moves Londonderry to 5-2 on the season and drops Bedford to 4-3 in a wide open Division I.