Woodsville
In Tuesday night’s NHIAA Division IV first-round game, only the Engineers appeared seasoned.
Freshman Olivia Sarkis and senior Lily Kinder each scored 20 points, Molly Clough added 12 and the No. 6 Engineers advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal round with a 64-37 win over the No. 11 Lakers.
Woodsville’s suffocating man-to-man defense remained effective well into the second half, helping the Engineers lead by as many as 36 points as Sunapee committed a total of 21 turnovers.
On Friday, Woodsville (15-4) will visit No. 3 Epping, a 55-22 winner over No. 14 Derryfield on Tuesday.
Though the rosters are very different — especially for Sunapee — the result was a measure of revenge for the Engineers, who’d been victimized with lopsided defeats at the hands of the Lakers in the quarterfinals each of the last two years.
Sunapee (10-11; 10-9 league) won 75 consecutive games, most of them during three straight undefeated seasons from 2014-17. This winter, they played without three graduated 1,000-point scorers as well as former coach Tim LaTorra, now leading the Concord High girls program.
“Suna-who?” Woodsville coach Russ Wilcox said facetiously. “It was nice to start three freshmen who don’t really have any idea of what Sunapee was. And Molly, Lily and the rest of the seniors understood that it’s a completely different team.”
Still, the result was sweet for the Engineers’ veterans.
“We definitely used (playing Sunapee) as motivation,” Kinder said. “At the same time, we knew we had to stick to what we do and not let who we were playing be a distraction.”
It didn’t appear so for the Engineers, who trailed 2-0 early before Sarkis went off for nine straight points. The freshman forward had four steals during the sequence.
“She plays fast, hard and quick,” said Wilcox of Sarkis, whose 20 points were one shy of her season high. “That’s the way she’s been all year.”
Sarkis scored 12 points in the first half, many of them via assists to underscore the team’s developing strengths in transition.
Kinder finished with eight points in the first half and went over 900 career points with her first basket of the third quarter. She’s been happy to distribute the ball this season to players such as Sarkis and freshman guard Morgan Wagstaff while contributing on other areas of the floor. At least twice on Tuesday, her guarding of Sunapee inbounds passes forced turnovers.
“Lily is so athletic, but she’s really unselfish,” Wilcox said. “It might have cost her (reaching) 1,000 career points, but that’s not her goal.”
Ahead 29-11 at halftime, Woodsville scored nearly as many points while dominating the third quarter, 24-13, and building a 53-24 advantage on Kinder’s 3-pointer with fewer than 10 seconds left in the period. Finding the stamina to continue executing aggressively in the second half has been a point of emphasis during the Engineers’ current nine-game winning streak.
“There were times, earlier this year, where we weren’t always at our best after halftime,” Kinder said. “We wanted to make sure we were still playing our game.”
Senior Kalleigh Durkee scored 12 points and freshman Abby Pollari had nine for the Lakers, who sank 12 of 24 free throws in a foul-laden contest. Durkee went 6-for-11 from the stripe in her final game.
With the outcome of the game well in hand, Sunapee showed grit down the stretch under first-year coach Stephanie Larpenter, a former Laker and 2009 Sunapee graduate. The Lakers closed the game on a 9-1 run, including a 3-pointer by freshman Fiona Nolan and an outside jumper and layup by another freshman, Anah Durkee.
“Woodsville’s a very good team, and we’re young,” said Larpenter, whose team won seven of its last 11 entering the tourney. “I thought we moved the ball well for most of the game and did a pretty good job defending (Kinder and Sarkis). We have six freshmen, so it gives us a lot of hope for the future.”
Free Throws: It was the first postseason loss for Sunapee since Hinsdale’s 48-35 win in the 2013-14 final, covering 12 straight victories. … Referees whistled a total of 45 fouls, 24 against Sunapee. Woodsville finished 15-of-31 from the line. … Sunapee held a 34-30 rebounding advantage, led by 13 from junior forward Elizabeth Bennett (seven offensive). … Kinder unofficially has 911 career points.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.