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# Bishop Guertin girls basketball picks up the pace in win over Nashua North
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/bishop-guertin-girls-basketball-picks-pace-win-nashua-north/
- Published: 2018-02-21T14:58:41.000Z
- Updated: 2018-02-21T14:58:41.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - The Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team likes to make its opponent about as uncomfortable as possible throughout the course of a game. While the Cardinals focus on playing air-tight defense, it also means playing at a frantic pace that doesn't allow teams much opportunity to ca
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, girls basketball, Nashua North, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - The Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team likes to make its opponent about as uncomfortable as possible throughout the course of a game.

While the Cardinals focus on playing air-tight defense, it also means playing at a frantic pace that doesn't allow teams much opportunity to catch their breath.

It's a pace that Bishop Guertin likes to play at, and the players showed just how well they can do it Tuesday night against Nashua North, as the Cardinals forced the Titans into more than a dozen turnovers to take an early lead and cruised to a 62-36 victory.

North turned the ball over 15 times in the game's first 12 minutes, and Bishop Guertin took advantage of most of them, getting out to a 40-8 lead with 4:10 left in the first half.

"That’s as well as we’ve played defensively in the first half in a long, long time," Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. "If we can sustain that type of defensive intensity, I like our chances. We’ll be in every game we play from here on out."

Caroline Hoffer and Erin Carney each had 12 points to lead the Cardinals (12-5) while Liza Field and Ava Owens each added nine points. Hoffer, the team's lone senior, was honored before the game, which along with the nature of a rivalry game led to a playoff-like atmosphere early.

"The biggest thing that was overwhelming was the energy," Hoffer said. "Both sides, the energy was almost championship-like and it gets you pumped up. I think that’s probably the biggest thing.

"Our game plan is definitely to run. It’s almost like a track meet and we want to control that pace. We want to run as much as we can and we got a bunch of layups off that."

North (7-10) got 12 points from Jaden Smith while Kaitlyn Laurendi came off the bench to add eight.

The Cardinals got the scoring going from the opening tip, as Carney scored just four seconds into the game, but North was able to match Bishop Guertin early and the Titans trailed 6-4 a little more than two minutes into the game.

But as the Cardinals continued to score, their press started to cause problems for North, as Bishop Guertin went on a 12-0 run to lead 18-4 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

In all, Bishop Guertin outscored North 34-4 over a stretch of just over nine minutes before the Titans ended the half on a 7-0 run to make it 40-15 at the break.

"They love playing with pace," Kreick said. "We have a group of kids who like to run. The more pace and tempo we can play with, the more free they play. We try to play fast without rushing and it just kind of suits their style."

After North opened the second half with two quick baskets, Bishop Guertin dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Titans 15-3 over the final 6:11 of the quarter to take a 57-22 lead into the fourth.

The win, combined with other results around Division I, means the Cardinals will be the fifth seed entering the division tournament and will host a preliminary round game on Feb. 28\. North has also clinched a playoff spot, and depending on its game Friday against Concord, could end up facing Bishop Guertin in the first round.