Londonderry boys basketball rallies late to beat Spaulding in D1 semifinals

DURHAM - Nate Stanton didn't doubt that his Londonderry High School boys basketball team would find away to come back Tuesday night.

Stanton just wished the Lancers could have done it a little earlier.

No. 1 Londonderry fell behind No. 4 Spaulding by as many as 12 points in the second half, and were still down with midway through the fourth outscoring the Red Raiders 10-5 down the stretch to win 58-51 in the Division I semifinals at the University of New Hampshire.

The win gives the Lancers (21-0) a spot in the championship game for the first time in program history, where Londonderry will take on No. 3 Pinkerton on Saturday at 3 p.m., also at UNH.

"This is Londonderry's first time ever making it to the championship, so there's nothing better than making it there and beating your rival," Stanton said. "It's exciting. It's a great opportunity for us."

With Spaulding (17-4) looking to shut down Londonderry's Cody Ball and Marc Corey, other players stepped. Jacob Coleman led the Lancers with 19 points, going 5 of 9 from behind the 3-point line, while Joseph Kwiatkowski added 16 points.

Ball finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Corey had eight points.

"That's what makes us a great team, any one of us can step up at any time," Ball said. "Any one of us can score. We've got to all do our job, play team defense and rebound."

It's something that Londonderry has become used to since the postseason started.

"Teams know (Ball) is the one to stop," Stanton said. "That's what I told them all, we’re not just a one-dimensional team. They really are one unit, and that's the way they play. I was just waiting for them to turn it on, and they finally did, we just can't wait that long."

Spaulding got 22 points and nine rebounds from Darian Berry while Anthony Ciccotelli had 11 points, but the Red Raiders were just 3 of 18 from behind the 3-point line and shot 37.5 percent from the field in the second half.

A buzzer-beating 3 by Berry at the end of the first quarter tied the game at 11, and the Red Raiders went on a 14-2 run to take a 12-point lead. Coleman hit two 3s for Londonderry before halftime, but Spaulding led 29-21 going into halftime.

The lead went back up to 12 points twice in the third quarter, going ahead 37-25 on a jump shot by Ciccotelli with 5:19 left in the quarter.

"Defensively, they're up in your face and they're very physical," Stanton said. "They're well-coached, (Spaulding) Coach (Tim) Cronin does a great job. We just played them a week and ahalf ago. They run a lot of good stuff and it's tough to guard. In the second half, we did a better job communicating and getting out defending."

Coleman hit a 3 after Ciccotelli's basket, starting Londonderry on a 12-2 run that got the Lancers within two points late in the quarter, but Brock Paquette hit a 3-pointer to put Spaulding up five, 42-37, going into the fourth.

But Londonderry outscored the Red Raiders 21-9 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win.

"They're a team that plays great team defense," Ball said. "If you go by your man, someone is always stepping up and helping. They rotate really well and they're tough to get an open look against. In the second half, we started pushing the tempo and we picked up our defense, which creates our offense. When we push the tempo, we get better shots."

And now Londonderry will have a shot at getting its first title.