Sunapee Girls Remain Unbeaten Against Neighboring Newport

The last time the Newport and Sunapee girls basketball teams went head to head, it was the Lakers who were left celebrating a 31-point victory. But after the opening minutes of Monday night’s second rematch, things looked as if they could turn out a little different.

That’s because the Division III Tigers did a good early penetrating the defense of the defending Division IV champs, and held brief leads in the opening quarter. Sophomore center Alexis Hurd was a big reason why with several strong buckets in the paint, while classmate Anna Pysz added several mid-range jumpers, and senior Steph Carl netting several rebound and put backs.

But Sunapee fought its way to a slim 3-point lead after the opening frame, and pulled away in the second as they outscored the home team 27-11 in the quarter on their way to an eventual 72-49 victory and season sweep of the Tigers. Faith Larpenter led Sunapee scorers with a game-high 19 points, including three impressive 3-pointers.

Rachel Malanga added 11 points for the visiting team, as did senior point guard Lexi Hamilton off the bench.

Katie Frederick netted seven points for Sunapee, who remain perfect on the season at 11-0, worth sole possession of the top spot in the standings.