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# Londonderry girls basketball over comes slow start to beat Windham, move on to D1 final (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/londonderry-girls-basketball-over-comes-slow-start-to-beat-windham-move-on-to-d1-final-video/
- Published: 2025-03-11T16:00:10.000Z
- Updated: 2025-03-11T16:00:10.000Z
- Description: EXETER - In the postseason, anything is possible. Like a high school girls basketball team that's been consistent all year near the hoop all of a sudden missing at least a dozen layups in one half of a semifinal. Londonderry coach Jon Doherty thought for sure the Lancers wouldn't repeat that perfor
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, girls basketball, Londonderry, playoffs, semifinals, slider, Windham, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

EXETER - In the postseason, anything is possible.

Like a high school girls basketball team that's been consistent all year near the hoop all of a sudden missing at least a dozen layups in one half of a semifinal.

Londonderry coach Jon Doherty thought for sure the Lancers wouldn't repeat that performance in the second half of Monday's game against Windham. He was right.

Down two at halftime, No. 2 Londonderry opened the second half with a quick run to take the lead, grabbed momentum late in the third, and then pulled away from No. 3 Windham in the fourth for a 51-36 win in the Division I semifinals at Exeter High School.

The Lancers move on to the final for the first time since 2015, when they won the second of back-to-back titles. Londonderry will face No. 1 Bedford, which knocked off No. 4 Concord Christian 58-34 in the other semifinal, at 4 p.m. Saturday at the University of New Hampshire.

"We’d been here (to the semifinals) last year, we had a goal at the beginning of the year, and it wasn’t to end here," Doherty said. "It was to get to the end. Now we get to the end and we’ll see what happens.

"I think there was a lot of adrenaline, a lot of nerves. We missed, I think we counted 12 layups in the first half. We left 24 points on the floor and that’s a lot of points for us. They were all good looks. We definitely turned it around in the second half, calmed down a little bit, starting hitting some shots."

Sammy Sullivan led the way for the Lancers (20-1), as she scored a game-high 28 points, including four 3-pointers. Two of those came during a 9-2 run that saw Londonderry turn a tie game into a 30-23 advantage in under 90 seconds.

With the game tied at 21 in the third quarter, Sullivan broke the tie with a 3, and after Rileigh Finneran found Gabriella Gullifa in transition for a Windham basket, the Londonderry junior hit another from deep. Brooke Eacrett (seven points) added a third straight 3 that forced the Jaguars to take a timeout with 1:38 left in the quarter.

"The momentum that brought us, it gave us something that we needed right there," Sullivan said. "I think we were a little down. We needed a pick-me up and I think that’s what that was."

Gemma Murray was also in double figures for Londonderry with 10 points while Finneran led Windham with 12 points, seven of which came in the game's first three minutes. Gullifa came off the bench to add 10 points for the Jaguars (18-3).

"Londonderry was just too good for us (Monday)," Windham coach Todd Steffanides said. "I think we were in our spots, we were doing a good job of keeping them in front of us. We were able to make Sammy’s looks a little tougher than in the second half. I think once she saw one go in, the floodgates opened, and that was unfortunate for us."

Finneran's fast start helped Windham take a 12-8 lead into the second quarter and a pair of free throws by Gullifa and a basket by Sarah Guarnaccia put the Jaguars up 16-9 just over a minute into the frame.

But Windham wouldn't score again until the final 30 seconds of the half on a layup by Meghan Husson (five points), which gave the Jaguars an 18-16 lead at the break.

"Our defense really locked in in that second quarter and we were able to roll with it," Doherty said. "For us to be able to power through, I mean, they had 16 points in the first (10 minutes) and then we held them to 36\. They came out swinging. This group is very resilient. They don’t quit."

Despite Londonderry's run late in the third quarter, Windham still only trailed by five going into the fourth and a 3 by Avery Steffanides early in the fourth made it a four-point game.

But Sullivan answered with another 3 and a layup by Murray gave the Lancers their largest lead to that point 37-28\. After a basket by Gullifa, Sullivan added a three-point play to make it a 10-point game, 40-30, with 5:37 remaining.

"We came out a little frazzled," Sullivan said. "I think it was the nerves. We were here last year, lost to Pinkerton, and this year we wanted to put our best foot forward. We talked in the locker room (at halftime), we calmed down, and just focused more on our game plan, and we got back to what we do best."