Bishop Guertin girls basketball beats Portsmouth to win fourth straight D1 title

MANCHESTER – You can never have enough players like Brianna Wilcox on your team.

The Bishop Guertin High School junior did not disappoint on the biggest stage of the year for the Cardinals, as she was a game-best, plus-19, finishing with seven points, three steals, three rebounds and an assist during top-seeded Bishop Guertin’s 46-33 victory over sixth-seeded Portsmouth in the Division I girls basketball championship game on Saturday afternoon at Southern New Hampshire University.

The win concludes a perfect 21-0 season for the Cardinals, and for the fourth consecutive season the program has hoisted the D1 crown. Guertin was outstanding on defense, relinquishing only 12 points in the first half, while recorded 12 steals and took care of the ball with only six turnovers, while forcing the Clippers into 21 turnovers.

“I thought it was a great game,” Wilcox said. “Coming into it, I was actually really nervous with all the jitters. I love playing defense over offense, and my shots have not been falling lately, but whether or not my shot falls, I always come back and play defense. Defense is my 'A' game and it is what makes me. Defense wins championships.”

Cardinals junior guard Hannah Muchemore, who poured in a game-high 14 points, was on fire from downtown, finishing 4 for 6 from the 3-point line and 5 for 8 overall from the floor. Junior guard Erin Carney chipped in with 10 points and four steals.

For Portsmouth (16-6), coach Tim Hopley got the most out of his team this season, in its first season back up in D1.

On Saturday, senior Abbe Laurence recorded 11 points and eight boards, while junior forward Corinne Lamond had a fantastic game off the bench, finishing with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor, to go along with seven boards. Senior guard Arianna Hebert posted nine points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Cardinals’ poise and experience paid off all night, as Wilcox dove for a loose ball on defense, igniting a transition layup by junior Ava Owens with 6:33 left in the first, which gave Bishop Guertin a 7-2 lead. A runner by junior Addison Smith with 5:30 on the clock made it 9-2 and concluded a 9-0 spurt. Portsmouth fired back with a 6-0 run, trimming the deficit down to one on a second-chance layup by junior Livi Kozick with 3:29 left.

Portsmouth, which finished with 15 second-chance points and 22 points in the paint, announced its arrival with 3:25 remaining on a highlight-reel block by Laurence in the paint on Carney. BG kept its composure with the Clippers’ fans going crazy, and ended the first with five straight points. The finishing touch was a right-of-the-arc 3 by junior Aaliyah Foreman (seven points, six rebounds) with 30 seconds left. BG led by 14-8 at the end of one.

“This is my third time, personally, (in the championship game) and I think this is going to come out really nice,” Wilcox said. “It is great being here and we all have a great time. We run at practice every day up and down, and that work really helps us get here.”

Wilcox may not have liked the feeling after absorbing a charge with 4:58 left in the second, but it is those big-time moments that define championship teams. A free throw by Carney with 3:34 left gave the Cardinals a double-digit lead at 20-10, and they led, 20-12, at halftime.

“We had a feeling that it was going to be a low-scoring and grind-it-out type of game,” Cardinals coach Brad Kreick said. “We told the kids that we were going to have to defend to win and I thought they were fantastic defensively (Saturday). We did everything hard.”

A follow-up layup by Laurence brought the Clippers to within 20-14, 38 seconds into the third, but Guertin started getting some separation as a result of back-to-back 3-pointers by Muchemore and Wilcox, pushing the lead up to 33-18 with 2:47 on the board.

With 28 seconds remaining in the third, Hebert converted a layup off a textbook give-and-go play with Lamond for the Clippers. Muchemore held the magic touch in the last seconds of the third, draining a running shot from just inside the half-court line, which halted a 6-0 run by Portsmouth and sent BG into the fourth with a 36-24 cushion.

“She has been practicing those half-court shots all year,” Carney said. “It was great that she finally made one and it brought the tempo up. It really helped us finish it off.”

The Cardinals, who scored 19 points off turnovers, closed the game out like a seasoned playoff team, not allowing the Clippers to get closer than 12 in the fourth. Guertin’s biggest lead of the night was 17, as a layup by Muchemore with 4:41 left put the Cardinals up 46-29.

“We really played a team game (Saturday),” Carney said. “Everyone contributed in many ways offensively and defensively. Coming into this we all wanted to make it a four-peat and we made sure we did that.”

BG’s reign atop D1 could continue, as everybody should be coming back next year with the exception of senior guard Gabrielle Sousa. Wilcox is already itching to get back on the court and make a run at five in a row.

“For next year, we are still basically the same squad from this season,” Wilcox said. “I do not think anything is going to change except that we are going to work 10 times harder and 10 times faster. Overall, everything is going to come together.”