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# Pinkerton girls basketball comes back from 16 points down to beat Manchester Memorial (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/pinkerton-girls-basketball-comes-back-from-16-points-down-to-beat-manchester-memorial-video/
- Published: 2019-02-08T12:30:10.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-08T12:30:10.000Z
- Description: DERRY - Lani Buskey realized that Thursday night's game was close to being over. With her Pinkerton Academy girls basketball team down 16 points late in the third quarter against Manchester Memorial, there was still plenty of time left on the clock, but the game wasn't trending in the right directio
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, girls basketball, Manchester Memorial, Pinkerton, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DERRY - Lani Buskey realized that Thursday night's game was close to being over.

With her Pinkerton Academy girls basketball team down 16 points late in the third quarter against Manchester Memorial, there was still plenty of time left on the clock, but the game wasn't trending in the right direction for the Astros.

But then, a pair of putbacks by Megan King gave Pinkerton a spark, and by the end of the quarter, the Astros had cut the Crusaders' lead down to seven points.

The run continued after that, as Pinkerton held Memorial to just two points over the game's final 11-plus minutes, and rallied for a 58-50 win over the Crusaders in a Division I game.

Brooke Kane scored 16 of her game-high 28 points in the second half and King came off the bench to score all five of her points at the start of Pinkerton's game-ending 16-2 run. Jesse Ames had all 12 of her points in the first half and Madison Mahoney also had nine.

"For a minute there, it was over," Buskey said. "I’m proud of my girls and it’s a good experience if we want to go deep into the playoffs."

The win was the fifth in a row for the Astros (13-1) and helps keep them in second place in the D1 standings, while Memorial (11-3) saw its five-game win streak come to an end.

Jennessa Brunette led the Crusaders with 19 points while Lyric Grumblatt had all 13 of her points in the first half, as she spent most of the second half guarded by Kane. Memorial kept the junior on the perimeter, drawing Pinkerton's senior forward away from the basket.

"Lyric was floating, and they were doing almost an X-cut down the middle," Buskey said. "We were playing behind and Maddie Mahoney shifted on that girl, and once she got in front, it took away that.

"Instead of clean shots, they started taking forced shot, and when they took a forced shot, we were able to get rebounds and go. The energy on the defensive end gives us the energy on the offensive end. We start doing well down there, it shows up on the other."

In the first half, it was the Crusaders' pressure that was turning into points, as they forced Pinkerton into 13 turnovers in the first 16 minutes.

The Astros jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 16-7 in the first quarter, forcing Memorial to take two early timeouts.

"What got us back in the game, I called that timeout to remind them that it’s a long game, but if we don’t rebound, they’re going to blow us out of the gym," Memorial coach Greg Cotreau said. "The girls really stepped up their rebounding effort. When we can rebound and get out and run, that’s what you saw in the first half."

Memorial came back to tie the game at 16 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a 9-0 run and Grumblatt hit two 3-pointers to open the second to give the Crusaders their first lead. In all, Memorial went on a 23-5 run to take a 30-21 lead.

Pinkerton was able to cut the lead down to five after an odd sequence of fouls. With Ames at the line to shoot a one-and-one, Memorial's Jess Carrier went to box her out on the first shot and knocked Ames to the ground.

Another foul was called, but Ames still had a free throw to shoot before getting another one-and-one. All four were good to cut the lead to 30-25.

Then, with under a minute to play in the half, Memorial's Ryan Moran was called for a foul on Ames, and Tamrah Gould was given a technical foul. With Pinkerton now in the double bonus, Ames again went to the line for four free throws, making three.

"We’re going to kick ourselves for this, but you have that weird scenario with the extra foul," Cotreau said. "Then a couple of possessions later, we have the technical foul. You don’t do those things … it’s the little tiny details we have to firm up."

Memorial took a 38-28 lead into halftime and stretched the lead to 15 points on a pair of baskets by Brunette. A three-point play by Ilyana Vega made it a 48-32 lead for the Crusaders with 3:32 left in the third, but Memorial would go scoreless for over a quarter as Pinkerton made its comeback.

King made the first of two free throws, then scored after a Memorial turnover, leading to a timeout by the Crusaders. Pinkerton got the ball back and King scored off an offensive rebounds to make it 48-37 with 1:18 left in the third.

A basket by Mahoney and two free throws from Kane got the lead down to seven at the end of the quarter, and the pair scored the first seven points of the fourth to tie the game at 48\. Three straight turnovers by the Crusaders led to three more baskets, two by Kane and one by Mahoney, to give the Astros a 54-48 lead with 1:58 to go.