Bishop Guertin boys basketball able to fend off Nashua North

NASHUA - There have been too many games this season that have slipped away late for the Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team and the Cardinals were determined not to let it happen again.

So when Nashua North cut a 12-point deficit down to four points, Bishop Guertin turned to its defense for help.

The Cardinals were able to keep the Titans from getting to the basket and made just enough of their free throws in the final three minutes to hang on for a 49-45 win over North in Division I action. It's the second win in a row for Bishop Guertin (3-12) and keeps alive its slim hopes for a playoff spot.

"We had five or six games where we lost after where we were leading late in games," Bishop Guertin coach Matt Regan said. "I think now we’re starting to understand. Chemistry has been an issue all year, but it’s gotten better.

"That’s as good as we’ve played defensively now, two games in a row. We’re starting to go in the right direction, I just wish we had some more time."

Bishop Guertin led 41-28 after a basket by Tommy Fontanella early in the fourth quarter, but North hung around and the Cardinals went almost four minutes without a point. Two 3-pointers by Casey Lane with about four minutes remaining cut the lead to 41-37, but from there, the Bishop Guertin defense stepped up and the Cardinals went 8 of 16 from the line down the stretch.

"We made some shots down the stretch and kept the pressure on, and tried to the best we can," North coach Steve Lane said. "They’re better than their record. They’re very athletic. If they can score the ball from the perimeter like that, then they’ll be tough the last couple of games."

Austin Hiscoe led the way for the Cardinals with 18 points, including four 3-pointers, three of which came in the third quarter during a 12-3 run that gave Bishop Guertin a 33-23 lead. John Begley added 12 points, going 4 of 5 from the line, and Yannis Nyantengi had 11.

North (3-12) got 19 points from Casey Lane, 14 of which came in the second half, while Curtis Harris and Ryan Lynn each had seven points.

Both teams started slow offensively, as the Cardinals led 9-4 at the end of the first quarter and 18-14 at halftime. The second half opened with a barrage of 3-pointers, starting with one from Hiscoe and then back-to-back 3s from Lane and Lynn that made it 21-20 Bishop Guertin.

But then the Cardinals defense clamped down on North and Hiscoe and Begley got the offense going at the other end. Hiscoe had 13 of the team's 19 points in the third quarter.

"He’s done that multiple times this year," Regan said of Hiscoe. "I think he’s been playing with an edge as of late, which has made us better. At the beginning of the year, he was scoring but defensively, he was a little bit of a liability. Now he’s actually playing some really good, varsity-level defense, and I think that’s transcended us. He’s growing up as a player."

The lead grew to as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter but North got within three on a basket by Lynn with 1:47 to play. But Begley made four straight free throws - with two free throws by Harris in between - to give the Cardinals a 46-41 lead with 1:08 to play.

Another basket by Lynn with 9.3 seconds left made it a three-point game again, 48-45, but Hiscoe made one of two free throws to give the Cardinals enough of a cushion.