Bedford, Pinkerton to meet in D1 boys basketball final

Aiden O'Connell scored eight of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and Caden Brown had a game-high 21 points as the Bedford High School boys basketball team pulled away late to beat Nashua South 79-56 in Wednesday night's Division I semifinals.

The back-and-forth game saw eight lead changes and 10 ties through the first three quarters before the top-seeded Bulldogs were able to outscore the No. 4 Panthers 28-8 in the final eight minutes. The win sends Bedford (19-1) to the Division I title game, where it will face No. 2 Pinkerton, which defeated No. 3 Nashua North in the other semifinal, at 7 p.m. Sunday at the University of New Hampshire.

It's the first championship appearance for Bedford since 2017, while the Astros will be playing for the title for the first time since 2015. The Bulldogs have never won a boys basketball title; Pinkerton will be looking for its first since 2010.

Luke Soden came off the bench to added 18 points for Bedford and Liam O'Connell, making his first start after suffering a knee injury a couple of weeks ago, was also in double figures with 11 points. The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field on the night, and while they had a 37-32 edge on the boards overall, they outrebounded the Panthers 19-9 in the second half.

South (16-5) got 26 points from Alize Roig-Cortez, as the sophomore hit two 3s and was 10 of 12 at the free throw line. Josh Caruso hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with a dozen points while Zach Castonguay also had 12 points and Karsten Lemire added seven points.

Depth became an issue late for the Panthers, as they had just four players score and shot 38 percent from the field in the second half.

Neither team led by more than five points through the first three quarters, with Bedford taking an early 7-2 lead and South going up 18-13 late in the first quarter. The Bulldogs went up 34-29 midway through the second, but the Panthers ended the half with a 7-2 run to tie it at 36 at halftime.

The score was tied six times in the third quarter and neither team led by more than two until the Bulldogs went up 51-48 in the final minute of the quarter. Bedford opened the fourth with a 12-5 run to go up 63-53 with 4:23 to play, but a basket by Castonguay got the lead back down to eight.

But that was as close as South would get, as the Bulldogs closed out the game with a 16-1 run. The Panthers would miss their final six shots from the field and turn the ball over five times in the final four minutes.

No. 2 Pinkerton 75, No. 3 Nashua North 55

The Astros and the Titans traded blows for more than three quarters, but in the end, Jackson Marshall proved to be too much.

The Pinkerton junior scored a game-high 36 points, hitting four 3-pointers and going 10 of 11 at the free throw line, to lead his team to the D1 title game for the first time since 2015. Anthony Chinn added 15 points and Ethan Johnston had eight markers while Tyrone Chinn chipped in with seven points for the Astros (20-1).

North (19-2) got 22 points, including four 3-pointers, from Parth Miglani while Jayden Montgomery finished with 14 points and Robinson Rodriguez had eight points.

The Astros shot 54 percent from the field for the game and held a 31-23 edge on rebounds. It seemed like the Titans might be in for a long night early, as Pinkerton jumped out to a 16-4 lead, with Marshall scoring 12 of those points, but North responded.

Down 20-6 with 1:40 left in the first, the Titans went on a 16-2 run to tie the game at 22 on a free throw by Montgomery with 6:19 left in the first half. But then it was Pinkerton's turn for a run, as the Astros outscored the Titans 22-8 over the rest of the half to lead 44-30 at the break.

The lead grew to 20 point on a three-point play by Marshall just two minutes into the third, but North answered again, this time with a 18-4 run, cutting the lead to 54-48 on a putback by Rodriguez in the opening moments of the fourth quarter.

Pinkerton answered quickly, going back up by 12 points in just two minutes, and the Astros ended the game outscoring the Titans 21-7.