Strong start leads Merrimack girls basketball to victory over Londonderry (video)

MERRIMACK - The Merrimack High School girls basketball team knew it had a team that had been on a hot streak coming into its gym Tuesday's night.

Londonderry had won three of its previous four games, and the Tomahawks wanted to get off to a good start to take momentum away from the Lancers early.

Merrimack couldn't have started much better, getting out to a 12-0 lead on the way to a 17-3 first-quarter advantage, and the Tomahawks came away with a 49-35 win over Londonderry in Division I action.

Nine different players scored for Merrimack (8-3), as Jolie Jacoby led the way with 10 points while Sara Wozniak had nine points and Abby Yuan added eight. The Tomahawks held Londonderry without a field goal for the first eight-plus minutes of the game and allowed just 13 points in the first half.

"We started off very strong, which was great," Merrimack coach Courtney Cheetham said. "Good ball movement in that first half, good defense in that first half, so that was really solid. It was a (first) quarter where we made good decisions, we found open players, we pushed the ball in transition and we hit open shots. You can’t really ask for more than that."

The defensive effort also meant Londonderry (3-6) was unable to apply its full-court press for most of the first half, and Merrimack was able to control the tempo.

"We knew we needed to start the game strong," Jacoby said. "(Londonderry) is pretty good, they run a lot, so we knew we needed to push the ball up the court. We pressured them well on defense. Defense is our biggest thing, so when we step up, it makes our offense so much better."

Despite trailing by 17 at halftime, Londonderry was able to cut the lead to nine points late in the third quarter, but couldn't get closer.

"We can’t spot teams 14 points in the first quarter," Londonderry coach Nick Theos said. "Against good teams, you’re not going to be able to comeback. We made a run like I knew we were going to, but we’d dug ourselves too much of a hole. They’re too good. They made shots."

Courtney Shay led the Lancers with 10 points and Mia Fantauzzi came off the bench to add eight points.

Londonderry was still down 16 points midway through the third when the Lancers made a couple of stops and scored at the other end, as they went on a 9-2 run to pull within 38-29 with under a minute to play in the quarter.

After a Merrimack turnover, Londonderry had chance to get closer, but the Lancers responded with a turnover of their own and Courtney Schaub scored in the final seconds of the third to give the Tomahawks an 11-point lead. Sabrina Johnson added a basket 1:38 into the fourth to make it 42-29 and Merrimack did just enough the rest of the way to keep the Lancers at a comfortable distance.

"I thought Londonderry did an awesome job in the second half of getting after loose balls, attacking the rim, and we were a little bit passive," Cheetham said. "It’s not surprising they got a little toasted in that third quarter. I’m just talking about playing the next play and staying in the moment. Try to focus on the things we always want to focus on."