Boys Basketball: Hot-shooting Londonderry puts end to Timberlane's surprising tourney run

Mar. 8—LONDONDERRY — Londonderry made sure that Timberlane's boys basketball team lost its Cinderella slipper in the second half last Saturday afternoon.

As a result, after two tournament victories, the Owls (6-9) bowed out in the Division 1 quarterfinals, 69-41 to the Lancers.

While the final score was a bit lopsided, Timberlane was right in it at halftime, trailing 26-21 and, if not for two factors, might well have been leading.

First, the Lancers were sensational from 3-point land in the first quarter, hitting 7 of 8, while taking a 23-15 lead. Second, the Owls were miserable from the free throw line in the first half, going just 1 for 7 and missing the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities while the Lancers were 5 for 6.

"I thought we were actually fine, in a pretty good spot at halftime," said Timberlane coach Jeff Baumann. "We didn't think they could keep making those 3-pointers and we really dug in in the second quarter."

But everything fell apart in the third quarter for the Owls. Londonderry went on an 11-2 run to start the second half and never looked back.

Timberlane, which had only four turnovers in the first half, had seven in the third quarter, and its defense weakened.

After giving up no 2-point field goals in the first half, the Owls surrendered seven in the third frame. Three were by Londonderry's usual high scorer Jackson Cox, who was held scoreless in the first half.

"Our game plan was not to let him (Cox) get in the paint and score and I thought we did a good job of that," said Baumann. "I think we just ran out of gas in the second half. We worked so hard in practice, I think the legs wore down."

The Lancers (9-6) finished with 11 3-pointers and were led off the bench by Michael Rosatano with 16 points that included and three straight trifectas in the first quarter. Brian Gould was also hot, finishing with 13 points, and William Reyes chipped in with 11.

"We've been shooting better so I had no problem taking all those (3-pointers)," said Londonderry coach Nate Stanton. "They were good looks and you could see our kids had confidence. And Michael can shoot like that — we've seen it in practice. He's our 'X' factor.

"But I told them at half that we can't just live on that, which showed in a rough second quarter, and we played much better in the second half. I think we're starting to peak at the right time."

Londonderry (9-6) advanced to play Bishop Guertin in the semifinals Wednesday at Oyster River High School.

Londonderry 69, Timberlane 41

Division 1 Quarterfinals

Timberlane (41): Baker 0 0-1 0, Surprenant 3 0-0 8, Chanakira 1 0-1 2, Stewart 1 0-1 2, Ventola 3 0-0 9, Olson 5 1-3 11, Roeger 2 0-0 4, Matthews 0 2-2 2, Einarson 0 0-2 0, Shivell 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 4-11 41

Londonderry (69): Gould 5 0-0 13, Reyes 3 4-4 11, Furlong 2 2-2 7, Hoggard 2 0-0 5, Rourke 0 2-4 2, Pao 1 1-2 4, Warren 1 0-0 3, Miles 0 0-0 0, Rosatano 6 1-1 16, Cox 4 0-0 8. Totals 24 10-13 69

3-pointers: Timb — Surprenant 2, Ventola 3; Lond — Gould 3, Reyes, Hoggard, Furlong, Pao, Warren, Rosatano 3

Timberlane (6-9): 15 6 7 13 — 41

Londonderry (9-7): 23 3 20 23 — 69