Bishop Guertin girls basketball returns to D1 semis with win over Nashua North
In the almost two years that Brad Kreick has been the coach of the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team, defense has been the calling card.
NASHUA - In the almost two years that Brad Kreick has been the coach of the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team, defense has been the calling card.
In Saturday's Division I quarterfinal against Nashua North, the Cardinals changed things up.
After falling behind early, No. 1 Bishop Guertin went on a 19-3 run to end the first quarter and cruised past the No. 8 Titans 83-44 to advance to the semifinals for the fourth time in the last six seasons. The Cardinals will face No. 4 Alvirne, which beat No. 12 Dover, in the semifinals on Thursday at Southern New Hampshire University.
In the first half, Bishop Guertin got eight 3-pointers from seven different players and outscored North 41-14 after falling behind by seven points early in the game.
Meghan Cramb led the way for the Cardinals (17-1) with 16 points while Rachel Marion added 12 points and Erin Carney chipped in with nine.
"I was pleased with how we played offensively," Kreick said. "I thought we were pretty aggressive getting to the rim. I think like any coach, you say 'what am I worried about?' We have to be better defensively.
"We'll take (the offense), but it's not something you can count on every game. The thing that's defined us is that it starts defensively. I think the kids understand it, we just have to make a bigger commitment to defending."
North (10-10) got 18 points from Isabel Dunning and Alana Choate chipped in with 14 points, but the Titans struggled to keep up the pace that saw them jump out to a 9-1 lead in the first two minutes of the game.
"We came out, guns blazing, and they came back," North coach Christina Collins said. "Once we started missing shots, and they started hitting 3s, that's tough to come back from. They're hitting 3s over us. They're getting open for 3s."
After Kreick used a timeout just 2:12 into the game, the Cardinals offense woke up, starting with a putback by Molly Dee. Cramb followed with a 3 and Bishop Guertin took the lead on back-to-back baskets by Caroline Hoffer and Marion.
Danielle Upton answered with a 3 for North to give the Titans a 14-13 lead, but it would be the last time they held it, as the Cardinals outscored North 10-0 over the remainder of the quarter.
"They played really well that first five minutes, but then they got gassed," Collins said. "I can't ask for more. They gave everything they had until the very last second, and as a coach, that's all you want, to see your girls have that character and that want."
North kept it close early in the second quarter, but Bishop Guertin hit three straight 3-pointers to go up 35-21 midway through the frame. The Cardinals held the Titans to 11 points in the second, but scored 22.
"We wanted to be sound and force them to beat us with contested twos," Kreick said. "They can shoot the 3 and Dunning is tough down on the block, so we wanted to limit her as much as we could and limit 3s as much as we could. That didn't happen and we're shaking our head. The kids worked their way through. We were probably a little nervous. They settled in and eventually found our groove.
"I said to the kids, the good news is that we're one step closer to what I know they want. But we've got to get better defensively. We shot the ball great, but you don't always shoot the ball well."
Bishop Guertin will face Alvirne at 8 p.m. on Thursday in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to Saturday's championship game against either No. 3 Bedford or No. 2 Pinkerton.
