Bishop Guertin boys basketball beats Nashua South on buzzer-beater
NASHUA - Kyle Gavin's layup at the buzzer Tuesday night gave the Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team a 62-60 win over Nashua South.
Or did it?
It might depend on who you ask, but the only two people that mattered - the officials - believed the shot left Gavin's hands before the final horn to give the Cardinals their first division win since opening night.
"I gotta take the win," Bishop Guertin coach Jim Migneault said. "It was really, really, really well-played. I thought both teams were doing what they wanted. They were coming down and hitting nice shots. I just thought it was one of those games that was going to come down ... I'd rather it wasn't going to end like that, but it did."
The basket came after a foul on South's Zavier Williams put Chad Olivieri at the free throw line for two shots with one second left on the clock and the scored tied 60-60. Olivieri missed both free throws but Garrett Camacho tracked down the rebound and threw a desperation shot at the basket. The ball missed everything but went right to Gavin who laid it in as the buzzer sounded.
Jack Zimmerman led Bishop Guertin (2-3) with 25 points, 19 of which came in the second half whenever the Cardinals needed a basket, and Gavin added 16 while Olivieri scored all of his 10 in the first half.
South (1-4) got 23 points from D.J. Frechette, who didn't play in the first quarter (coach's decision), while Mike Osgood added 14 points and Malik Langa added 12.
"I know they (the Panthers) feel awful, because that's a tough way to lose, but as I told them, we made mistakes," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "We turned the ball over, we didn't box out. It was back and forth, back and forth. From a fan's perspective, I'm sure it was very fun."
The Cardinals led by as many as 11 points in the opening half, but South was able to come back and tied the game at 24 going into the break.
"We weren't ready to play, which kind of is our MO, unfortunately," Mazerolle said. "It was choppy in the first half and in the second half, both teams were trying to get out and run, because I think we know our strengths and our weaknesses. It was back and forth, back and forth."
Bishop Guertin led 33-26 after a 3-pointer by Zimmerman with 4:57 to go, but South answered with an 8-0 run to go up by one point three minutes later. The Cardinals retook the lead right away on a layup by Alex Arika and had a 44-40 lead before Frechette made a 3 with 3.2 seconds left in the third to make it a one-point game heading to the fourth.
A three-point play by Zimmerman put the Cardinals ahead by six points, 52-46, with 5:57 to play, but South came back with a 12-2 run to go up four. Osgood and Frechette combined to score 14 of the team's 17 points in the fourth quarter, as South took a 58-54 lead with 2:23 left.
"We had a four-point lead with about two minutes to go and then two bad turnovers ... with everything that transpired at the end, we made mistakes," Mazerolle said. "We didn't box out twice. When you don't do your job, you allow bad things to potentially happen, and that's what happened."
After a timeout, Zimmerman made four straight free throws to tie the game, and after a South turnover, took the lead on a basket by Arika with 1:22 to play.
Osgood scored out of a South timeout to tie it at 60 with 1:04 to play and the Cardinals worked the clock, getting it down to about five seconds before Olivieri put up a jumper that was off the mark. But the junior grabbed his own rebound and was fouled by Williams as he took another shot, and after a brief discussion, the officials put one second on the clock.
"I thought that one was with time left on the clock, and (Olivieri) did get fouled," Migneault said. "That was a call I could take. He missed the two foul shots, I feel bad for him, but like I told him, at least he got to the line."
Olivieri missed both free throws, but Camacho came across the lane to grab the rebound of the second one and tried to toss the ball back at the basket in one motion. The ball missed everything, but went right to Gavin, who calmly put it up and in the officials ruled before the buzzer.
Mazerolle went to midcourt to plead his case as South fans first jeered at the referees. After the shook hands and left the court, fans could still be heard yelling at the scoreboard operator.
"It was a foul, I don't doubt that," Mazerolle said. "I was hoping it was after the buzzer, but I'm sure it wasn't. After that, the next play, on the rebound with one second left, a lot happened between the first touch and the basket. Those things happen, it's high school basketball. Sure it hurts, but as I told my guys, we made mistakes that led to that."
