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Astros season ends in prelims

Thursday, March, 04 By Jeff Hamrick

LONDONDERRY – A basketball season interrupted twice by Covid ended prematurely for the Pinkerton boys Thursday night in a tough 66-58 decision to border rival Londonderry in a Division 1 preliminary game.

The Lancers (7-7) will play host in Saturday’s quarterfinals to upstart Timberlane (6-8). Despite the loss, the Astros (9-3) showed marked improvement from last year’s 2-18 campaign.

“It was definitely a rewarding season,” first-year Pinkerton coach Dave Chase said. “We have some great guys and there were a lot of tears. Basketball meant something to them. It was tough for us. We just didn’t do a great job of executing.”

Pinkerton, which had defeated Londonderry twice by a combined 10 points during the regular season, led by as many as five early in the second quarter, but the Lancers used nine points from Justin Cox to grab a 31-27 halftime lead they would never relinquish.

Cox, who finished with a game-high 24, heated up again in the fourth as Londonderry opened its biggest lead at 60-45 with 3:37 remaining after back-to-back three’s from Cox and Michael Rosatano.

“I think we’ve gotten better every single day,” said Londonderry coach Brian Stanton, whose squad had only two of its seven turnovers in the first three quarters. “They’ve been pushing each other. We hadn’t put a full game together and we did tonight. Different guys stepped up at different times.”

The one constant through the match was whistles as the two combined to shoot 61 free throws on 51 fouls. The clubs combined to make 39 free throws against 36 field goals.

“I thought the physicality took a toll on us out there,” Chase said. “We’re not a real physical team and I honestly believe they didn’t even call all the fouls out there. It kind of affected us being as young as we are. But you can’t take anything away from Londonderry.”

Pinkerton was led by Jackson Marshall’s 20 points. The 6-foot-6 freshman was four of six from behind the arc in the first half. Senior Justin Dunne scored seven of his eight before intermission while Andy MacDonald and Drew Brander each finished with six.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Chase said. “We came a long way. They won two games last year, but one of those was in the Christmas tournament. We were 1-17 in the league last year. And to win nine games this year is a big accomplishment.”

Those nine wins came despite missing 22 days while the school was following Covid protocols.

“We had to sit twice,” Chase said. “We missed five practices at Christmas, and we missed 17 days the second time. (Wednesday) was our 24th practice of the year. So, there was a lot of things we didn’t have time to put in and do. I’m not making excuses, but it kind of took a toll on us.”

Pinkerton will lose five players who combined to score 19 points Thursday to graduation. Returning will be starters Marshall and Brander – both freshman – and sophomore Anthony Chinn, whose twin brother Tyrone was first off the bench.

“It was a tough loss, but there is optimism already,” Chase said. “We have a lot of young guys coming back. The attitude is good, and we’ll come back stronger next year. It was a great first year.”