Manchester
Star center Katie Frederick had 26 points and 28 rebounds, leading four Sunapee seniors in double figures as the Lakers clinched their third consecutive undefeated season with a 79-52 win over Colebrook in Saturday night’s NHIAA Division IV championship game at the Southern New Hampshire University Field House.
Frederick had a double-double by halftime for the second straight game as Sunapee built a 23-point lead in the second quarter. She finished with eight assists as classmates and fellow career 1,000-point scorers Sydney Clark and Faith Larpenter each scored 13 points. Katie’s twin sister, Meghan Frederick, scored a season-high 12 poins, and Mary Grzanna had 11 with seven rebounds for the Lakers.
Sunapee (22-0 league) finishes the season a perfect 24-0 for the third straight year. That’s 72 wins in a row for a program that also won three straight championships a decade ago.
“It’s in this team’s blood, in our DNA, to win every time we go out on the floor,” said Katie Frederick, who also has won numerous soccer and softball championships during a decorated high school career. “In case you can’t tell, this team doesn’t like to lose.”
Even coach Tim LaTorra, who seldom seems convinced his team will win until the clock reads 0:00, took a moment in the fourth quarter to savor the occasion.
“There were a couple of times when I just soaked it all in and thought, ‘Wow, it’s been one heck of a ride,’ ” said LaTorra, who had an all-senior starting five and two more off the bench. “These seniors have done a lot of great work.”
Katie Frederick was monstrous from the opening tip, making a few rebounds appear bashfully easy against the undersized Mohawks (19-3 league) while legitimately fighting her way for others against a physical Colebrook team.
When she wasn’t stuffing in putbacks — 13 of her rebounds were on the offensive glass — Frederick was showing strong footwork while delivering on feeds from teammates.
“It’s not fair!” joked 11th-year Colebrook coach Steve Cass, whose team also fell in the 2015 final against Sunapee in a game in which Frederick scored 25. “The only way to really defend her — and really the whole team, because they have a lot of good shooters — is to be physical and try to make them run. The only problem with that is that they can run, too, and when they’re not giving it to Katie they’ve got players who can hit from the outside. They’re fun to watch; they’re not fun to play against.”
Sunapee steadily built its lead in the first half, going up by 10 on the first of Clark’s three 3-pointers and leading 19-9 after one quarter. The Frederick sisters combined for six more and Grzanna and Clark had 3s as Sunapee stretched the lead to 44-26 at halftime.
Junior Chandla Cooney sparked Colebrook with seven quick points in the third quarter and the Mohawks narrowed the gap to 15 twice.
Sunapee responded with big plays both times. Colebrook’s Michaella Biron (15 points, seven rebounds) sank a pair of free throws to make it 51-36, and Clark answered with a 3-point swish on the other end.
Biron muscled in a putback to make it 55-40 late in the third as the Mohawks built some momentum before their vocal fans.
Meghan Frederick had the perfect reply, picking off a pass at center court and taking a hard foul from Colebrook’s Taylor Siewierski while converting. Frederick got up limping, but stayed in the game.
“That was just a hustle play that needed to be made at the time,” Meg Frederick said. “I feel like we’re always ready for plays like that.”
Sunapee regained a 20-point advantage early in the fourth on Larpenter’s deep outlet pass to Grzanna to make it 64-44, then stretched it to 25 on Larpenter’s layup and her 3-pointer on a pass from Clark.
“Our perimeter shooting has always been huge,” said Larpenter. “We want to get the ball to Katie, but if she gets bottled up she knows we’ll be there on the outside to make shots.”
A pair of Katie Frederick free throws made it 77-51 with 1:57 to play, prompting a mass substitution and a huge ovation from packed stands on Sunapee’s side. Moments later, Laker players collapsed on the court in unison to revel in their accomplishment.
Many of them are seniors, after all.
“It’s emotional, because you know it’s the end of something really special,” Meg Frederick said. “It hasn’t hit us, but it will.”
Free Throws: It was a busy day at the SNHU Field House, beginning with the St. Anselm College men’s team’s 73-68 win over the host Penmen in the Northeast-10 Conference final and continuing with Monadnock’s win over Conant in the NHIAA Division III girls final before Colebrook and Sunapee took the floor. … The Lakers also won three straight championships exactly a decade ago, capturing consecutive Class S crowns from 2005-07. … The Mohawks fell to 0-6 in finals. … Sunapee’s 295 points in the tournament broke its own two-year-old record by 24. … The Lakers’ 79 points was one shy of their own record high for one team in a final, also set two years ago when they beat Colebrook 80-72. … Katie Frederick has been recruited by several colleges to play basketball and called St. Lawrence University her first choice.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.