Fast start carries Central girls past Trinity, 65-37

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MANCHESTER, NH — Every basketball coach wants to see his team get off to a fast start. But it’s hard to imagine a better start for the Manchester Central girls if coach Mike Wenners had been able to script it himself.

The Little Green bolted to a 13-0 lead in the first four minutes and cruised to a 65-37 win over Trinity High, Monday night.

Junior Jayce Mendez paced Central with 15 points, breaking down the Trinity defense with several strong drives through the paint. Senior Reeham Imam added 13 points and freshman guard Sylvie Bangasimbo chipped in with 12. 9 2 scaled


With the win, Central improved to 3-7 on the season. But the Little Green is 3-3 in their last six games and the 65 points scored is a season-high by 15 points.

Monday’s result was significantly different from the first meeting of the cross-town rivals, a 47-45 Trinity victory, back on Dec. 10. For Wenners, the win served as a measuring stick for how much Central has improved in five weeks.

“Our goal is we want to get a little better every day, and that doesn’t always necessarily equal wins,” said Wenners. “But today they came out fire up, ready to play. City games, you know, they know each other so it’s always nice to go out and get after them. This is a nice step for us.”

Central came out aggressively on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Little Green used relentless pressure, challenging every pass, pestering Trinity ballhandlers and refusing to allow open looks around the perimeter. The result was 23 Trinity turnovers, some on clean steals but many were simply poor passes or miscommunications between the Pioneers.

Despite a height disadvantage, Central controlled the boards. When Trinity was able to execute its offense, it was almost always getting just one shot per possession. 3 2 scaled


Meanwhile, the Little Green was often getting second and third chances on the offensive end. It was a putback by senior Amandalee Espinal that gave Central a 13-0 lead with 3:54 to play in the first quarter.

Trinity finally broke the ice on a free throw by freshman guard Adut Tour. But the Pioneers didn’t get their first field goal until junior center Achol Tour scored off the glass in the low post to make it 15-3 with 2:17 left in the first quarter.

“It’s a learning year for us. We’ve got a lot of young kids and we make a lot of mistakes,” said Trinity Coach Kevin Fraser. “Missing a couple of players also doesn’t help. But we just need to keep on working and keep on looking to improve.” 4 3 scaled


To its credit, Trinity didn’t fold. In fact, the Pioneers began slowly eating into the Central lead and seemed intent on making a game of it.

The comeback actually started in the waning seconds of the first quarter, when Adut Tour drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 19-8.

Sophomore guard Dakota Correia opened the second quarter scoring on a runner in the lane, making it 19-10, and giving Trinity its first real momentum of the game. Correia provided a spark for the Pioneers’ offense with eight of her game-high 16 points in the second quarter.

But every time Trinity looked ready to get within striking distance, Central had a response. Most often, that response came from Mendez, who had 10 points in the quarter. The junior, despite giving up several inches in height to Achol Tour (4 blocks), fearlessly attacked the paint.

Trinity was able to keep the Central lead in single digits for most of the second quarter. Back-to-back drives by Correia sliced the deficit to 30-21 with 2:30 to play. 6 3

But Mendez answered with a strong baseline drive, going under a block attempt by Tour. Bangasimbo then drained a 3-pointer from the wing to help Central take a 35-24 lead into halftime.

Bangasimbo, who added 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 assists, has made huge strides over the course of her freshman year. Wenners says she has responded well to the responsibilities and challenges she has been handed.

“(Bangasimbo) really has improved a lot over the course of the year and we probably ask more of her than most freshmen are asked to do,” said Wenners. “It’s a big jump. It’s tough competition but she has done great.”

Central never let Trinity get any closer in the second half. Another 3-pointer by Bangasimbo and a pair of free throws by Emily Hobausz (9 points) pushed the Little Green lead to 40-24 to start the second half. By the end of the third quarter, Central had blown it open, 54-35.

Trinity returns to action Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Portsmouth (10-1). Central looks to continue its improved play on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at home against Londonderry (5-6).

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About this Author

Bill Gilman

Bill Gilman is a veteran journalist with 35 years of experience covering community news and sports in New England. He and his wife have two grown sons and two perfect granddaughters.

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