Bishop Guertin girls basketball pulls away in 2nd half to beat Pinkerton in D1 semis (video)

EXETER - With time ticking down in the first half of Tuesday's Division I semifinal, Brad Kreick just wanted the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team to get as close as it could.

Down a dozen points early in the second quarter against Pinkerton Academy, the Cardinals didn't just narrow the deficit, they tied the game.

And in the second half, No. 5 Bishop Guertin took the lead and made free throws down the stretch to pull away from No. 1 Pinkerton for a 66-51 win at Exeter High School. The Cardinals move on to the D1 final for the sixth straight time, where they will face No. 2 Bedford in a rematch of the 2021 title game at 4 p.m. Sunday at the University of New Hampshire.

Brooke Paquette led the way for Bishop Guertin (18-3), as she scored 32 points, going 16 for 20 at the free throw line with a pair of 3-pointers. Hannah Lynch came off the bench to add 12 points and Olivia Murray was also in double figures with 10, as the Cardinals outscored the Astros 22-10 over the final seven-plus minutes of the first half to tie the game at 31 at the break.

"We could have gone night-night right there," Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. "They scratched and clawed. We were sitting on the bench with three minutes left in the second quarter, thinking if we can just stay connected and keep this thing single digits going into the half, we’ve got a shot.

"They just kept banging away and you look up and it’s 31-31. They kept making plays and just kept competing."

Throughout the night, a big part of that was getting to the basket and drawing fouls, something Bishop Guertin didn't do in the second half of a 74-66 regular-season loss to the Astros (18-2). As a team, the Cardinals were 29 of 39 at the foul line, including 13 of 16 in the fourth quarter.

The fouls added up for Pinkerton, as Avah Ingalls, Alexandria White and Kristina Packowski all fouled out in the fourth quarter.

"They fought to the end as usual and played with tons of heart," Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey said. "We got into foul trouble. As deep as we are, with three girls fouling out and two girls with four, it’s hard to hang around with a team like BG when you’re doing that.

"I love this team and I can’t say enough about them. We just didn’t execute at a high enough level and we let BG get to the line too much."

Elizabeth Lavoie led the Astros with 20 points while Packowski finished with 11 points and Sydney Gerossie, who also battled foul trouble, had seven points.

Pinkerton jumped out to an early lead, and after Bishop Guertin tied the game at 6, the Astros went on a 15-3 run, taking a 19-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. A putback by Packowski to open the second quarter made it 21-9 Pinkerton and the Cardinals took a timeout just 24 seconds into the quarter.

"I think that was a confidence thing," Buskey said. "They were all working as a team and then foul trouble happened. The role players are fantastic, but I lose a bit of offense when that happens.

"You saw us get a little more hesitant. You can’t do that. BG is too good and if you start to get hesitant they’re going to jump, which they did."

It took the Cardinals the rest of the half to climb all the way back in, and after the Astros took a 33-31 lead on the first possession of the third quarter, Bishop Guertin went on a 10-2 run to take a 41-35 lead with 2:33 remaining in the third.

Pinkerton was able to cut the lead in half by the end of the quarter, trailing 44-41 going into the fourth, but when Ingalls was called for a charge - her fifth foul of the game - with 6:18 remaining, the Astros were dealt a big blow.

"My sophomores and my freshman were struggling, and then Avah fouls out with six minutes left in the game, and your leadership (is gone)," Buskey said. "Everything is in your head. They were looking for Avah and she wasn’t there. So then the ball ends up in Packowski’s hands, but she doesn’t run our offense. There was a struggle there."

Bishop Guertin was in the bonus to start the quarter, and as the fouls mounted, the Cardinals made their free throws, as their final 13 points of the game were scored at the foul line.

"Our kids attack the basket," Kreick said. "They don’t always do it under control, but they did a pretty good job of staying composed getting to the rim (Tuesday). That’s something we’ve been working on.

"They did a much better job in the second half of doing the basics over and over again. This isn’t about strategy or coaching, it’s about doing the three or four things really well that usually translate to winning. Rebounding the basketball, don’t turn it over a ton, make your free throws, and finish at the rim, and if we do those four things, I like our chances."