HUDSON – For the better part of three quarters, the Alvirne High School boys basketball team played its brand of basketball.
The Broncos controlled the pace, moved methodically and kept the score low. By doing that, Alvirne forced Bishop Guertin out of the running and pressing game it likes to play.
But for the final nine minutes of the game, the Cardinals were the ones dictating the pace.
Led by Sean McClung, who scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter, Bishop Guertin outlasted Alvirne, 60-52, in a Class L game Tuesday night.
Scott St. Lawrence added 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks and Kyle Coumas chipped in with nine points, as the Cardinals (7-2) were able to stop a two-game slide.
Alvirne (5-4) got 12 points from Joe O’Hearn and 11 points each from Caleb Donnelly and Ryan Sweeney. While Sweeney scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter, Donnelly led all scorers in the first half with eight. The junior was one of the few players for either team who was having any success from the field, as the Broncos and Cardinals combined to shoot 29 percent in the first half.
After starting 0-for-6 in the first quarter, McClung finished shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, and made eight of his 11 free throws.
“He’s a basketball player,” Alvirne coach Kevin Bonney said of McClung. “He’s a kid with confidence in his ability. He was the difference for them with Connor (Green) being out.”
The Cardinals played their fourth consecutive game without Green. During that span, Bishop Guertin has gone 2-2, with a one-point loss to Salem and a three-point loss to Merrimack.
“It’s not like we tailed off,” Bishop Guertin coach Jim Migneault said. “What we’re doing right now, we’re starting to form that nucleus.”
The nucleus of both teams slogged through three quarters of basketball. The Cardinals led, 24-23, at halftime after a first half that featured nine lead changes and seven ties. The largest lead of the first half was just four points, and that came when Bishop Guertin opened the game by scoring the first two baskets.
The Cardinals were able to hold the Broncos off for most of the third quarter, staying up by no more than three points until Donnelly and Sweeney had back-to-back baskets to give Alvirne a 32-31 lead with 1:31 to go before the fourth quarter.
Bishop Guertin scored the final six points of the third to take the largest lead of the game, 37-32, going into the fourth.
“I liked where we sat,” Bonney said. “That was our type of game. They didn’t get into their running, pressing traps. We played with poise.”
The Broncos opened the fourth by going inside to Sweeney, who scored Alvirne’s first nine points of the quarter. Dave Skinner added two free throws to give the Broncos a 43-42 lead with 5:28 to play.
But on Bishop Guertin’s next possession, McClung hit his second 3 of the quarter to put the Cardinals up for good. The junior scored 13 of his team’s first 15 points of the fourth as Bishop Guertin outscored Alvirne, 18-9, over the final five minutes of the game.
“Sweeney played a great game, he killed us in that one little stretch,” Migneault said. “We fronted the big guy inside and (Sean) Moyen got in foul trouble, which helped. I think the pace of the game took the big guys out of the game.”
Bonney agreed that not having his other post player in the game late caused problems for Alvirne’s offense. After picking up his fourth foul with 4:04 left in the third quarter – and sitting for a long stretch afterward – Moyen was whistled for the fifth one with 6:19 still to play in the game.
“I think what hurt us was Moyen fouling out,” Bonney said. “We’ve got to have him in there.”
Still, Bonney was pleased to see his team bounce back from an overtime loss to Spaulding last Friday.
“We needed this effort,” he said. “On any night, we can compete with people. It’s just a question of committing to it for 32 minutes.”
Alvirne heads to Merrimack on Friday, while Bishop Guertin will host Keene.