MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Derryfield Cougars saw their season end on Monday night with a buzzer-beating 56-54 loss to Farmington in the First Round of the NHIAA Division IV Girls Basketball Tournament.
All night, the two teams kept close, with neither side seeing a lead greater than five points. Farmington held a lead for most of the night, but could just not pull away, as a hopping jumper from Farmington’s Jacalyn Peaslee with just 2.4 seconds left in regulation broke what had been the seventh level score of the contest.
Peaslee and teammate Sam Aubut dominated early on, with Aubut recording four blocks in the first quarter alone as the pair combined to take more shots from the field (15) than Derryfield’s total figure (12). Yet, the Cougars left that quarter with just a 17-15 deficit.
Derryfield shot just 21.0% from the field in the second quarter, but limited Peaslee and Aubut to just two total points, limiting their halftime disadvantage to just a 29-26 figure.
The Cougars finally nudged ahead with just under 90 seconds left in the third quarter off a score from Shawna Lesmerises, but even a three from Emmy Plage a few seconds later couldn’t extend into significant momentum as Derryfield took a 42-39 lead into the final stanza.
Derryfield got 20 points each from Plage and Lesmerises as Plage also contributed four blocks and five rebounds in the losing effort.
Peaslee led all scorers with 22 points, adding seven rebounds. Aubut had eight rebounds along with her five points while Chloe Weeks provided 18 points and six rebounds.
Derryfield ended their regular season 13-4, having defeated Farmington on the road in December as well as at home in January.
The Tigers now travel to third-seeded Hinsdale for a matchup on Thursday, Feb. 27 (7 p.m.)
