Londonderry point guard scores 30 in 73-55 D-I girls basketball quarterfinals win over Nashua North

LONDONDERRY – It was another step in the right direction. The Nashua North girls’ basketball team posted the best record in school history this winter and won a playoff game. With a young team, next year’s goal has to be the next step and the school’s first Final Four appearance. The fifth-seeded Titans had a chance Saturday night at No 4 Londonderry, but they were dissected and eliminated 73-55 by Londonderry junior point guard Aliza Simpson. Simpson, who led the Lancers to the finals last winter, is one game short of doing it again after a 30-point, eight-assist, six-rebound effort against North. In the first half Simpson set up her teammates for one easy basket after another. In the second half she looked for her own offense more, getting most of her points on pull up jumpers just inside the foul line. Londonderry sophomore forward Casey Evans, the beneficiary of many of Simpson’s assists, finished with 19 points. Simpson, whose own foul trouble was a factor in last year’s final with Bishop Guertin, picked up her fourth foul late in the third quarter against North, but never came out of the game. “I knew they wouldn’t take her out,” North coach Ricky Oliver said. “She’s so important to them in so many way, they were going to die on the vine with her.