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# Bishop Guertin girls basketball starts strong in win over La Salle Academy
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/bishop-guertin-girls-basketball-starts-strong-in-win-over-la-salle-academy/
- Published: 2019-12-15T13:00:04.000Z
- Updated: 2019-12-15T13:00:04.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - A 20-point lead in the fourth quarter will typically be a safe place to be for the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team. Saturday's season opener was far from typical. The Cardinals opened up their quest for a fifth-straight Division I championship by hosting La Salle Academy, R
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, girls basketball, La Salle Academy, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - A 20-point lead in the fourth quarter will typically be a safe place to be for the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team.

Saturday's season opener was far from typical.

The Cardinals opened up their quest for a fifth-straight Division I championship by hosting La Salle Academy, Rhode Island's defending Division I champ from Providence, and after leading by as many as 20 points, got a scare late.

After Bishop Guertin went up 55-35 early in the fourth, the Rams went on a 17-7 run to cut the lead in half, but it wasn't enough, as the Cardinals held on for a 64-53 win.

Erin Carney had 13 of her 17 points in the first half and Hannah Muchemore scored all but two of her 13 points in the opening two quarters, as Bishop Guertin (1-0) never trailed against La Salle (0-1), despite some sloppy play down the stretch.

"Games like this early in the season, against high-quality opponents, we play for a reason, and I think you saw that," Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. "That was a very competitive basketball game and beating somebody handily early in the season is great, but if you don’t learn a lot … we learned a ton about where we are. Some good, some not so good."

The good was the defense, which forced 18 turnovers in the first half, and the offensive balance, as eight players scored, with Addison Smith and Bri Wilcox added nine points each and freshman Kailee McDonald chipping in eight, including two 3-pointers.

The not so good came at the free throw line, where the Cardinals were just 5 of 14, and on the boards.

"We got killed on the glass all day long," Kreick said. "Second half, we got a little bit tired, a little bit out of our rotations. We didn’t defend well and we gave up 18 offensive rebounds. That’s a huge thing we’ve got to get cleaned up."

La Salle got 18 points from Kelly Gallagher and 13 points from Aria DiNobile, who hit three 3-pointers in the second half. But the Cardinals' press and the early deficit proved to be too much for the Rams to overcome

"It seemed like there were 12 girls out there on the court because their defensive pressure was amazing," La Salle coach Lee Harris said. "We probably had 17 or 18 turnovers because of their defensive pressure, but then the girls were able to settle down and get used to that and make some better passes. Because we put ourselves in a hole on the first half, it was a tough battle getting back in the second half."

Bishop Guertin opened the game with a 6-0 run but La Salle was able to keep it close early, make it a 10-7 game on a free throw by Gallagher with 2:54 left in the first quarter.

But the Cardinals closed the first on a 10-2 run and stretched that to a 26-7 run, taking a 36-14 lead - their largest of the game - on a basket by Carney with 3:46 remaining in the first half. The Rams got the lead down to 18 points at halftime and cut the gap to 44-29 on a 3 by Gallagher with 4:11 left in the third.

A 3 by McDonald late in the third and a basket by Wilcox to open the fourth helped get Bishop Guertin's lead up to 55-35, but a 3 by DiNobile started the Rams on their late run. While La Salle was never able to get within single digits - the Rams made it 62-52 with 2:08 to play - the Cardinals weren't able to put the win away until the final minute.

"I think it was more about, in the second half, we just didn’t execute very well," Kreick said. "Against a good team like that, if you give them chances to hang around, they’re going to hang around. We had just enough to get out of here with a win against a good team."