By Jeff Hamrick
MANCHESTER — The state Final Four is a good time to show off a tough defense. But for Pinkerton, it was just more of the same stellar work it has displayed in the final month.
The second-seeded Astros advanced to their third title game in the 41-year history of the tourney, dominating third-seeded Londonderry, 60-39, Tuesday night at the Southern New Hampshire University Fieldhouse.
Looking for its second state title, Pinkerton (22-2) will take a 15-game winning streak into Friday's 8 p.m. championship on the same court against three-time defending champion and undefeated Winnacunnet, which claimed a 53-47 decision over the Astros on Jan. 15.
Tuesday night marked the seventh consecutive game and 17th time this season Pinkerton allowed fewer than 40 points.
"We wanted to have as perfect of defense as possible," forward Allie Ucich said. "Everything is about defense. Offense will come, but defense wins games. Every day in practice we come to work on our defense."
Pinkerton permitted the Lancers only three field goals in a span of 23 minutes beginning midway through the first quarter. For the game, Londonderry shot 24.4 percent on 10-of-41 shooting.
"I hope we have a few more of those in the future," Pinkerton coach John Barry said. "We can defend pretty well, and we emphasize defense first, and that's always been consistent."
The three seniors on the Pinkerton roster supplied the bulk of the Astros' offense. AJ Guidi scored a game-high 20 points, giving her 57 points in three tournament outings. Laura Pierce and Ucich contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively. The trio combined to go 15 of 28 from the floor.
"They're solid kids and have been solid all year," Barry said of his seniors. "They've worked very, very hard. It's been a true joy to have those three kids. I will miss them tremendously."
Pierce added seven assists and four steals with only two turnovers.
"It's just my job as point guard and captain to take control of the game, and to help get everyone going on offense," Pierce said. "I'm very happy. Our goal was to be in the top four, but we've had to prove that all season."
After holding a 28-16 halftime advantage, Pinkerton scored the final 11 points of the third period and 12 of the first 14 of the final quarter to take a 31-point lead with 5 minutes left.
"I thought we'd been playing pretty well coming into the game," Londonderry coach John Fagula said of his Lancers, who had won 10 straight entering the semis. "We had a pretty decent game (in a 39-34 loss to Pinkerton) the first game, and I thought we were in pretty good shape. But, as I told the kids, sometimes you just have to give the other team credit."
