SUNAPEE, N.H. – The Sunapee girls basketball team opened up their 2018 campaign on Friday night at Sherburne Gymnasium by hosting Hinsdale, the defending D-IV state champs. The game went into the half with Sunapee trailing by just one point, but Hinsdale proved to be the more consistent team down the stretch, and ran away with a 57-33 road win.
On the Lakers’ first half, Sunapee second-year head coach Stephanie Larpenter said, “They played really hard and really well. It was good to see… especially because we know we can put two halves like that together. It’s early… it’s the first game, but we have some really nice pieces.”
Sunapee came out of the gates as the more aggressive team. The Lakers opened up in a full-court press while Hinsdale was sitting back in a 2-3 zone.
After sloppy play for the first few minutes of the season, both teams settled in, and it was Sunapee that gained the lead with just 50 seconds left in the first quarter, 8-7, and an Abi Pollari floater with ten seconds left put the Lakers up 10-7 after one.
The Lakers kept the momentum to open up the second frame and went on a quick 5-0 run that included back-to-back buckets from Marybeth Groton. After threes by both teams, Sunapee led 19-13 with three minutes left in the first half.
“I give Sunapee credit, they came out strong, aggressive, with intensity… they played hard,” said Hinsdale head coach Terry Bonnette, who has led the Pacers to two state titles over the past four years. “I think they caught us a little bit by surprise.”
Hinsdale was able to fight off the early Sunapee run with a 12-2 run over the final minutes of the first half. A moment of relief for Sunapee, and perhaps their last ounce of momentum in the game, came at the end of the first half. With Hinsdale up 25-21 after a three-pointer by Delaney Wilcox with ten seconds to play, the Lakers’ Fiona Nolan answered right back with a three of her own, with the ball splashing through the net as the buzzer sounded.
Sunapee’s lead vanished, but they still were within reach, trailing 25-24 at the break.
That one-point deficit turned into ten early in the third, fifteen by the end of three, and got up to twenty by midway through the fourth.
The combination of Wilcox’ guard-play and Angelina Nordolillo’s post-play was the major reason that Hinsdale was able to separate from the Lakers on the road. Wilcox beat the Lakers down the court multiple times for easy lay-ups and was also hitting spot-up threes. Nordolillo was the focal point of the Sunapee defense and picked up a couple early fouls, but she was still able to get hers by finishing in the post and drawing fouls.
On Nordolillo, coach Bonnette said, “Angelina was huge… we need her in the game. She’s our rim protector and scorer down there as well.”
A bright spot for Sunapee was the relentless effort from starting guard Pollari. All night on defense she was in passing lanes, tipping balls, and on offense she was trying to set her teammates up for easy looks as well. With just fifty seconds left in the game, which was well out-of-hand, Pollari was still diving on the floor in the back court to try and give the Lakers another possession.
“She is amazing… she’s one of the hardest working individuals I’ve ever met.” Said coach Larpenter on Pollari after the game. “She gives 120% whenever she’s on that court. In practice, she does the same thing… she brings a lot to the team.”
“We knew Hinsdale was going to be tough, but we also knew that we had the components to beat them, too,” added Larpenter, whose team falls to 0-1.
The Lakers have high hopes for the 2018-19 season and perhaps facing stiff competition early on will serve them well.
Both teams now have a week until their next game action, as Sunapee will host Farmington at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, December 7, while Hinsdale will host Moultonborough at the same time.
Scoring:
Hinsdale: Delaney Wilcox 16 points, Angelina Nordolillo 15 points, Megan Roberts 10 points, Olivia Pangelinan 8 points.
Sunapee: Marybeth Groton 7 points, Louise Groton 7 points, Kelsey Covitt 5 points, Abi Pollari 4 points, Elizabeth Bennett 4 points.
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