Bedford boys basketball picks up big win over Nashua South

BEDFORD - The Bedford High School boys basketball team is hitting the stretch run in a pretty good spot.

The Bulldogs picked up their sixth win in a row Tuesday night, beating Nashua South 78-68, and with the rest of the top teams in Division I knocking each other off, Bedford finds itself in sole possession of the top spot in the standings.

Staying there will be a challenge, but with a tough finish to the regular season looming, the Bulldogs were able to at least enjoy the win over the Panthers.

Despite leading throughout, which included an advantage of as many as 15 points in the third quarter, Bedford saw the lead dwindle to six points in the final minutes, but found a way to hold on thanks to its defense and free throw shooting.

"I was really happy with the way our kids fought," Bedford coach Frank Moreno said. "They’re going through some games now that are really challenging and they’re rising to the occasion.

"They just keep coming. We have not shot well from the free throw line. I think at Goffstown, we shot 61 percent, it was terrible, so we worked a lot on free throws. Ali Shoukeir is an unsung hero at times because he does so much of the dirty work on the defensive end. He hit four free throws at the end that were clutch."

Shoukeir had all eight of his points on 8 of 8 shooting at the line, half of those in the final 30 seconds, while four other Bulldogs finished in double figures. Logan O'Connell led the way with 23 points and Wiji Dak finished with 17 while Landon Ellsmore recorded 13 points and Connor O'Rourke had 11 markers.

"We have a nice advantage with two bigs who can score inside," Moreno said. "(Tuesday) was Wiji’s day, and Connor still had 11. It’s really nice to get those guys working on the offensive glass for us and we have guards who like to get downhill. Landon and Logan do a great job of finding seams and getting to the rim."

Bedford (11-2) needed all of that offense, as South's Josh Caruso had a game-high 38 points at the other end. That including eight 3-pointers, half of which accounted for all of the senior's points in the first half.

But no one else was in double figures for the Panthers (9-4) as Josh Tripp and Francisco Rodriguez each had nine points.

"We like to be a very fast team," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "We know they do as well, and we had talked about how we’re going to run our game, and try to slow them down. We were ineffective, especially early, and a little better in the second half. But as I tell them all the time, it’s free throws and layups. Free throws, I think we were fine. We missed 10 layups.

"We were 9 for 33 (from the field) in the first half. We’re not going to win too many games that way. I got on them a little more than I have and they responded, so that’s something we’ll take as a silver lining."

Bedford led by eight points at halftime and got it up to 13 with a 7-2 run to open the third quarter. It eventually got up to 15 points, 49-34, more than halfway through the quarter.

A 3-pointer and then a steal and transition basket by Caruso got it back down to 10 and Bedford took a nine-point lead into the fourth. It grew back to 14 points on a three-point play by O'Rourke with 6:23 remaining.

Caruso hit back-to-back 3s to start South on a 10-2 run that got the Panthers within six, 63-57, with five minutes to play. The Bedford lead was still six points, 72-66, with 1:40 to play and South with possession.

The Panthers had two chances to cut deeper into the lead, but couldn't get any closer, and the Bulldogs closed out the game at the free throw line.

"I thought both teams executed so well, were so well prepared," Moreno said. "We know each other really well and that makes it easier and harder. You try to slow down Caruso, you do everything you can, and the kid is just unbelievable. He’s one of the best scorers I’ve ever coached against. I hope we don’t see them in the playoffs."