Alvirne’s Lady Broncos’ Basketball team met a similar fate to the boys’ team, as they found themselves entering the tournament at 9-9 on the season and the 11th seed in the Division I Tournament, pitting them against Goffstown in the first round of the playoffs. The Lady Broncos pulled off a major upset at the last possible second against the Grizzlies, punching their ticket to the quarterfinals against the Lancers. The Cinderella story would end there, however, as the Lancers took care of business, winning 51-36 over Alvirne.
Alvirne’s head coach, Frank Girginis, said that all Alvirne needed to do going into Tuesday’s battle against Goffstown, their second in a row, was dot their i’s and cross their t’s, and they managed to dot just enough i’s and cross just enough t’s as they emerged victorious over Goffstown 50-49.
Goffstown jumped out to a very quick 7-0 lead in the first before slowing down a bit to send the game into the second quarter up 11-6 over the visiting Broncos. Alvirne’s struggles carried into the second quarter as Goffstown put up 18 points to Alvirne’s 12 to take a 29-18 lead into halftime. The Broncos had to turn things around as quickly as possible.
Alvirne did just that, storming out of the gates at halftime, and putting up 20 points in the third quarter alone. That gave them the lead 38-36 going into the fourth quarter of play. Now all they needed to do was hold on for eight minutes.
Alvirne held at least a share of the lead until there was just 4:47 to play in regulation. Goffstown held their lead as time wound down, with the game sitting at 48-47 in favor of the Grizzlies when a Julia Adams foul sent Goffstown’s Keeleigh Capps to the line where she missed her first shot and hit the second. 49-47 Goffstown with 3.6 seconds left.
In a last-ditch effort to save the game, Rachael Allard put up a three-pointer that she was fouled on the shot, which sent her to the line with no time on the clock to shoot three. Allard hit all three of her free throws, giving the Broncos a walk-off 50-49 victory over Goffstown and sending them to the quarterfinals.
Alvirne’s next test was to “shock the state,” as coach Girginis put it, and beat Londonderry. Unfortunately, they were unable to do so as the Lancers took care of business by double digits.
Ella Hartson led the Broncos in scoring with 12 points. Courtney Anderson was close behind contributing 11 of her own. Rachael Allard had 6, Julia Adams put up 3, and Lexi Floyd and Sadie Rodgers had 2 points.
For Londonderry, Sam Sullivan led the way with 22 points. Gemma Murray and Mia Giampa had 8 leading the way. Reagan Anderson scored 7 for Londonderry while Kate Sloper and Brooke Eacrett had 3 points each. Londonderry moves on to the semifinals against Pinkerton in Exeter at 5:30 PM.
Alvirne finishes their season at 10-10 and in the #8 spot in Division I. Congrats to the Broncos on a great season.