Young Londonderry looks to grow throughout girls basketball season

When listing off the young players on the varsity roster for the Londonderry High School girls basketball team, Nick Theos has reason for forgetting about sophomore Courtney Shay.

Shay, one of two sophomores in the Lancers' starting lineup, is an experienced varsity player when compared to some of her teammates.

"I keep calling her a veteran because she played some games last year," the Londonderry coach said of Shay. "Hard to remember that she’s a sophomore and has a lot of growing to do. She’s going to be a great player."

In fact, Theos has high hopes for the entire Londonderry lineup, which includes four sophomores and three freshmen. But its going to be a matter of time until the Lancers reach that level.

Against Nashua North on Tuesday, Londonderry (0-2) started two sophomores - Shay and Colleen Furlong - and a freshman (Ashley Rourke), while two more sophomores and freshmen saw action throughout the game. With just one senior and a couple of juniors with any varsity experience, Theos expects the early portion of the Lancers' schedule to contain plenty of growing pains.

"I know working in a lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores, and even juniors without a lot of varsity experience, there’s going to be moments where kids are out of position or aren’t doing the right thing," he said. "It’s going to take some growing."

Theos was already seeing improvement Tuesday, when the Lancers rallied in the final minute of regulation to force overtime before eventually falling to the Titans 37-36. Being able to come back a couple of times in the second half was already a step beyond where Londonderry was in its season-opening loss to Manchester Memorial.

"Last game, Memorial went on a run and we never fought back," Theos said. "These guys went on a couple of runs and we worked ourselves back into the game and continued to fight. That’s a good step in the right direction.

"The kids aren’t used to it and don’t understand (runs) are part of the sport. They get down and then everything goes down. When they get back in, I made sure to mention that to them. That’s our first run stop, that’s a step in the right direction. I’ve got to continue to make sure these kids have fun because there’s too many talented kids."

Included in that group are Furlong and Rourke, along with sophomore Katie Sullivan, freshmen Charlotte Sullivan and Mia Fantauzzi, and of course Shay.

"Defensively, she’s always in the right position and offensively, she’s coming along with her outside shot," Theos said. "She can usually get to the rim pretty well."

If Shay and the rest of the Lancers can master all the right things Theos is looking for, then he expects they can be in the hunt for a second-tier postseason spot.

"It’s going to be coin flips for a lot of games," he said. "It’s going to be which one executes a little bit better. There are so many teams that are all right next to each other. We’re going to have to grow up quickly. They’re a good group."