Bishop Guertin boys basketball finally finding ways to win, hoping its not too late

The roster for the Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team shows that the team has a good mix of players from each class.

There's a few seniors and a couple of juniors that you would expect to add leadership and experience, and a good group of sophomores and freshmen, many of whom contribute enough to get excited for the future.

But in reality, of the 14 kids on the Cardinals varsity roster this season, just one of them entered this year with significant varsity experience, and it took a while for all of them to feel comfortable playing with each other.

Bishop Guertin coach Matt Regan believed the team was heading in the right direction when the Cardinals handed Nashua South its first loss of the season and then held a double-digit lead against Salem in the fourth quarter of the following game. But a trend that would dominate the rest of the year for Bishop Guertin reared its head, and the Cardinals lost the lead and the game, 47-45.

That started an eight-game tailspin that saw Bishop Guertin tumble to the bottom of the Division I standings.

"After we beat South, we had some good mojo going and we had a 14-point lead against Salem and then blew it in the fourth quarter," Regan said. "I think that deflated us. We had five or six games where we lost after where we were leading late in games."

There was a two-point loss to Trinity - still the Pioneers only win of the season - and a five-point loss to Alvirne in double overtime. In the team's two most recent losses, the Cardinals scored 71 points against Dover and lost by five, and followed it up by scoring just 30 against Keene and losing by 22.

As frustrating as that inconsistency may be for Regan, he's encouraged that it doesn't seem to have had a lasting affect on the players.

"We’ve got a lot of young kids who are learning on the fly," he said. "We have a lot of seniors who are really just doing a great job of being great teammates. That’s what I care about right now. When you’ve won three games, you need good older kids to keep the ship afloat. I’m really proud of those kids for doing that."

With wins in the last two games, over Manchester Memorial and Nashua North, the Cardinals have given themselves a little bit of life in the final two weeks of the season. If Bishop Guertin could win its final three games - a tough task with Pinkerton (4-11), Spaulding (8-7) and Bedford (12-4) still to go - there's a chance the Cardinals could reach the postseason.

Concord and South are tied for the 13th and final playoff spot at 5-10, and two more teams - Pinkerton and Keene - sit ahead of Bishop Guertin. But to still have a shot, no matter how remote, is big for the Cardinals.

"We started attacking what we were seeing as weaknesses," Regan said of Tuesday's win over North. "That’s what I’m happy about. We haven’t been able to do that all year, adjust on the fly, because we’ve been inexperienced.

"Guys were in the right spots. 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."