Sunapee girls basketball takes care of Wilton-Lyndeborough
WILTON – The Sunapee High School girls basketball team could have been in trouble in the first half of Tuesday night’s game against Wilton-Lyndeborough.
WILTON – The Sunapee High School girls basketball team could have been in trouble in the first half of Tuesday night’s game against Wilton-Lyndeborough.
The Lakers had three starters on the bench for most of the half after all three picked up two fouls early. Sunapee coach Tim Latorra was forced to test his depth, and he got quite a surprise.
Faith Larpenter, an eighth-grader playing her first varisty game, scored 18 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, and the Lakers pulled away from the Warriors in the second half for a 60-42 win in Division IV action.
Erika Waterman added 13 points and Megan Clarenbach had 10 for Sunapee (1-0), with both netting all of their points in the second half.
WLC (1-1) was led by Sam Bosquet, who had 12 points, including 6 of 9 from the free throw line, while Kelsey Randlett added eight points and Jenna Bragdon had six points. But the Warriors shot just 12 of 23 from the line as a team, turned the ball over 26 times and struggled to score inside.
“We worked hard, but we missed a lot of easy shots,” WLC coach Denny Claire said. “We turned the ball over, some of them were unforced. We stopped their shooter (Erika Waterman) in the first. We did the job on her. But the eighth-grader, she got five or six layups on the left side here in the first half.”
Latorra was looking to get that from Larpenter when she entered the game in the first quarter.
“I told her when she first went into the game that the first time she got the ball, I wanted her to shoot,” he said. “I know how that first shot is when some takes it in their first game, not to mention being an eighth-grader on varsity. She got that shot up and calmed down a little bit. It happened to be a layup and it went in. When she saw one go in, she kept finding openings.”
Despite Larpenter’s output, the Lakers led by only seven at halftime. Only two other players scored in the first half for Sunapee, and WLC held a 7-1 scoring advantage from the free throw line.
“We can’t keep bailing them out with silly fouls,” Latorra said. “We got caught reaching a lot and they were able to stay in it at the free throw line. We just kept telling them that if we stay disciplined defensively, we’ll find ways to get to the basket.”
The Lakers were more disciplined in the third quarter, and it led to an 18-4 run that put Sunapee up 44-23 late in the frame.
“We’re not holding on to the ball and there were two or three shots taken that were horrible,” Claire said. “Our press was decent (but) we didn’t score off our transition. When we did get the steals, we didn’t score. Anywhere around the basket, we just didn’t put the ball in.”
The Warriors kept it interesting by going on an 8-3 run to end the third and cut the Sunapee lead to 47-31, but the Lakers wouldn’t let them get any closer.
WLC will play at home again on Friday, when it hosts Hinsdale at 7 p.m., while Sunapee returns home to face Derryfield, also on Friday.
