Manchester
Katie Frederick had a career-high 30 points to go with 18 rebounds and the top-ranked, senior-laden Lakers dispatched No. 4 Littleton, 64-38, in Thursday night’s semifinal at the Southern New Hampshire University Field House.
The game, a rematch of last year’s final, marked the 71st consecutive win for Sunapee (23-0; 21-0 league). Next is a rematch of the 2015 final as Sunapee vies for a third straight undefeated season Saturday against Colebrook back at SNHU.
The second-ranked Mohawks broke out in the second half during a 47-38 win over No. 3 Hinsdale in Thursday’s early semi.
The D-IV semifinals and final were all moved to SNHU from Plymouth State University this week due to ice-dam flooding issues at the latter. Thursday’s action was originally slated for Monday at PSU and initially bumped to Wednesday, but the flooding issues persisted.
The consecutive postponements meant six days between games following the Lakers’ 83-18 ousting of Woodsville in the quarterfinals.
“I think, if anything, tonight we were over-prepared,” Sunapee coach Tim LaTorra said. “We played our best game of the year last Friday and then we had four straight days of practice this week. We were ready to go for game day twice and had to dial it back.”
Sunapee struggled a bit early, falling behind 4-0 and suffering turnover woes.
It took about three minutes of game time for the Lakers’ all-senior starting lineup to establish rhythm. Once they did, they were impossible to stop.
Sunapee scored the game’s next 19 points, beginning with putbacks by Faith Larpenter (nine points, six steals) and Frederick as the Lakers began to dominate the boards, finishing with a 48-26 advantage.
The first of Frederick’s four blocks led to an overthrow on a deep outlet pass, but Sydney Clark made a tightrope-walking save on the baseline to set up Larpenter’s layup, giving the Lakers a 10-4 lead and getting Sunapee’s supporters into it.
The run continued with a Clark 3, a Frederick layup and a pair of free throws from Jessica Parsons as the Lakers built a 15-point lead — much of it coming off Crusader turnovers against Sunapee’s trademark press.
“Sunapee is well coached and has great athletes, and if you don’t beat their pressure, you’re in trouble,” said Crusaders coach Dale Prior, whose team was without 6-foot senior center Emma Bogardus (mononucleosis). “It’s ‘pick your poison’ with them and I think rebounding was the big difference tonight. Katie, obviously, had an outstanding game.”
Frederick remained aggressive in the third period, adding three quick baskets to help Sunapee build a 41-17 lead, its largest of the night until mass substitutions late in the game.
The center broke a tie with her 27-point previous career two minutes into the fourth after Clark fed her underneath while falling down. Frederick later added a free throw to finish with a cool 30, but didn’t know it.
“I thought I had about 20, to be honest,” Frederick said. “I guess I just ended up with the ball a lot inside. It was one of those grind-it-out type of games.”
Littleton finished the third on an 11-4 run, including layups by Laney Hadlock (16 points) and Lexi Walker (10).
Sunapee stayed aggressive even with a large lead, unconcerned with granting Littleton extra possessions.
“We have to play 100 percent the whole game, that’s who we are,” LaTorra said. “I trust our break.”
Sophomore Elizabeth Bennett and junior Kalleigh Durkee added layups in the final minutes for Sunapee, making the final score its largest lead.
Free Throws: Meghan Frederick, Katie’s twin, had a game-high four steals … Clark, Larpenter and Katie Frederick all saw 29 minutes of action, one fewer than Littleton’s Hadlock, a sophomore who was the lone returning starter from last year’s final against the Lakers. … Hadlock hit a buzzer-beating 3 to end the first quarter and break Sunapee’s 19-0 run. … Katie Frederick (15 points, 11 rebounds) had a double-double in the first half. … The Lakers’ 28 offensive rebounds were two more than the Crusaders’ total number of boards. … Colby-Sawyer College freshman point guard Lexie Hamilton was in the stands and stayed to mingle with players after the game. A former Sunapee player, Hamilton had a career-high 31 points against Littleton in Sunapee’s come-from-behind win in last year’s final. … Sunapee is 2-0 against Colebrook during its 71-game winning streak, including an 80-72 win in the final two years ago and a 67-44 decision in Sunapee in December. … Saturday’s tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.