Londonderry girls basketball storms past Bishop Guertin (video)

LONDONDERRY - Jon Doherty watched for a little more than four minutes as his Londonderry High School girls basketball team did things it wasn't supposed to be doing.

The Lancers coach took a timeout to remind the players what the game plan was, and that little reminder seemed to do the trick.

Londonderry came out of the timeout and scored 16 straight points, turning what had looked like a sleepy Friday night game against Bishop Guertin before the holiday break into a runaway. The Lancers led by as many as 24 points on the way to a 60-42 win over the Cardinals in a Division I game.

It's Londonderry's first win over Bishop Guertin in almost eight years, dating back to Jan. 5, 2016, and it comes on the heels of Tuesday's win over Portsmouth.

"It was good to get a win," Doherty said. "It was definitely a positive. The girls were tired. We had a hard game on Tuesday, too, so this has been a slammed week. It will be good to have a couple of days off. I’m proud the way they played. They came out and executed the game plan very well."

Samantha Sullivan led all scorers with 20 points for the Lancers (4-0), including 10 of 16 at the free throw line, while Gemma Murray added 18 points, as she shot 6 of 7. As a team, the Lancers were 24 of 35 on free throws and didn't hit a 3-pointer.

Brooke Eacrett was also in double figures for Londonderry with 10 points.

Londonderry held a 6-4 lead with Doherty called his first timeout with 3:48 left in the quarter. By the end of the frame, the lead had grown to 17-4, and with 4:34 remaining in the first half, it was a 22-4 Lancers advantage.

"I feel like we weren’t awake that first quarter and we hadn’t snapped out of it," Sullivan said. "We brought up our energy. If we have low energy, we’re not going to play our best, but when we bring up the energy, we look for each other and we support each other."

And the Lancers were able to do it off their defense, as they controlled the boards and caused several Cardinals' turnovers in the first half.

"That’s our M.O.," Doherty said. "We like to play aggressive, hand in passing lanes. I make a big emphasis on boxing out."

Bishop Guertin (1-2) got big contributions from its bench, as Maggie Gallagher had all but one of her team-high 13 points in the second half and Gianna Pezzetti had all eight of her points after halftime. Thalia Drapeau added 10 points for the Cardinals before fouling out early in the fourth.

"I think our competitive level and energy wasn’t where it needed to be and we dug ourselves a hole early and it was hard to dig out of that, especially against a good team," Bishop Guertin coach Liv Orlando said. "I think one of our biggest assets is we have depth, so going to different kids off the bench, everyone brings something unique and special. We had different kids than we would have expected bring us some life (Friday) and that’s what we needed."

Londonderry's lead was 28-7 at halftime and it grew to 35-11 midway through the third quarter.

Bishop Guertin started to chip away, and got the lead under 20 points late in the quarter, but every time the Cardinals did so, the Lancers had just enough to answer and keep their advantage comfortable.

"We ran out of gas," Doherty said of the second half. "It’s always tough to play (right) before Christmas break. Two hard-fought games this week, so the kids are definitely tired. It’s definitely a big confidence boost. We got into practice on Wednesday, they were tired, but the had a little swagger in their step."