Bedford boys basketball gets a key early win over Nashua South
NASHUA - Wins in December count the same as wins in the new year, regardless of what they look like. For that, Mark Elmendorf was happy to see his Bedford High School boys basketball team leave the Gate City with a win Friday night. The Bulldogs overcame a rough start to clamp down on Nashua South
NASHUA - Wins in December count the same as wins in the new year, regardless of what they look like.
For that, Mark Elmendorf was happy to see his Bedford High School boys basketball team leave the Gate City with a win Friday night.
The Bulldogs overcame a rough start to clamp down on Nashua South's offense, holding the Panthers without a field goal for more than 11 minutes in the second half of a 49-36 win in the Division I season opener for both teams.
The Panthers got within three points midway through the third quarter, but Bedford outscored South 12-1 over the next seven-plus minutes to go up by 14 points to put the game away.
"It was sloppy at times, but it was a great win," Elmendorf said. "Just thrilled to come away with a win. It’s been a really short preseason. We’ve got a lot to work on."
Justin O'Neill led Bedford (1-0) with 15 points, as the Bulldogs had 10 players score points. Jordan Dyer added nine points while Camden Roberts and Tre Ravenelle each added seven.
"That’s something coach has been talking about in practice, that he wants the scoring to be spread across all of our players," O'Neill said. "If everyone can score, then we’ll be hard to beat.
"I think that first quarter, our passes were all over the place. Once everyone got over the nerves and settled down, we got into a groove."
South (0-1) got 15 points from Cody Rocheleau while Andres Hulfachor added seven points.
"That was a reality check," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "I think we were reading our own clippings. When we don’t do the things we ask them on a daily basis, we aren’t very good. We weren’t very good (Friday)."
Bedford fell behind by as many as six in the first quarter, but ended the frame up 15-9, and the teams traded baskets for much of the second quarter. The Bulldogs went up 19-13 with 4:38 left before halftime but Rocheleau got South back within two by scoring six straight points for the Panthers.
But a 3-pointer by Dyer with 21 seconds left in the second gave Bedford a 24-19 lead going into halftime.
The Bulldogs took a seven-point lead on a jumper by O'Neill with 5:42 remaining in the third quarter, but a basket and two free throws by Hulfachor cut the lead to three, 29-26. The layup, which came with 5:08 left in the third, was the last for South until the game was out of reach.
"I think for the first game, we played pretty well (defensively)," O'Neill said. "That’s been our focus the first week of practice, lot of defense, foot speed and getting in front of your man. We started out a lot in man, but towards the end, we got into some zone that we’ve been working on in practice."
The Panthers didn't do themselves any favors with their shot selection, according to Mazerolle.
"We took a lot of bad 3s in the first half," the coach said. "And when we needed to start taking 3s, we were taking long, contested 2s. Our shot selection was not our best.
"That threw us off a little bit. They’re long and they’re pretty athletic. I think their best defense was that they were patient on offense, they execute and they get good looks. That’s demoralizing. You worry about your defense and then your offense doesn’t come as cleanly as it should."
O'Neill was able to dunk in transition with 2:14 left in the third to give Bedford a 33-27 lead and got the Bulldogs fired up. A 3-pointer by Roberts and a basket by JT DeLacey in the final minute of the quarter made it 38-27 going into the fourth.
A jump shot by Alex Hulfachor with 1:31 to play ended South's field goal drought, but by then, Bedford led by 13 points and held on for a season-opening win.
