Bishop Guertin girls basketball survives against Alvirne to reach D1 title game

MANCHESTER - What the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team does on offense hasn't mattered as much, so long as the Cardinals are playing good defense.

And when Bishop Guertin is playing good defense, it's able to what it did in the Division I semifinal Thursday night against Alvirne.

Despite shooting 21 percent from the floor in the second half, the No. 1 Cardinals were able to keep the No. 4 Broncos off the board for long stretches and made enough free throws when it counted to pull off a 47-33 win at Southern New Hampshire University. Bishop Guertin will try to win its second title in a row Saturday at 2 p.m., also at SNHU, against No. 3 Bedford.

"I say we're better offensively than we were last year, but at the end of the day defense and taking care of the ball wins you games," Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. "As much as we struggled offensively, if somebody told me we'd hold people to 33 in the tournament, I'd take my chances.

"We scored (over) 80 against Nashua North (in the quarterfinals) and I wasn't particularly happy after that game. We scored 47 and I'm actually happier because if we can defend and make it difficult for people to score, it just helps us and gives us a better chance to win basketball games."

Meghan Cramb led Bishop Guertin (18-1) with 15 points and grabbed six rebounds while Addison Smith came off the bench to add 10 points and six boards. Molly Dee and Erin Carney also had nine points apiece, as the Cardinals used a 15-1 run in the first half to turn a one-point deficit into a 23-10 lead with 5:47 left in the first half.

While Alvirne (17-3) was able to stay within striking distance for most the half, Bishop Guertin pushed the lead to 30-15 at the break.

"Even at halftime, if didn't feel like we were down 15," Alvirne coach Scott Szuksta said. "It felt like a close game and BG has a tendency to do that. You blink and they're up. They hit a 3, there’s a foul and they get the ball back and bang they're up six. You turn around and there it is.

"I felt like one of the things BG does is they make you play their game, and I felt like no team has really been able to force them into something different. We were able to do that for a little while and catch them off guard. I was happy with the kids effort and trusting the plan and executing it pretty well for the most part."

Amanda Wetmore led all scorers, dropping in 16 points for Alvirne on 7 of 8 shooting, but the rest of the team was just 4 of 26 from the field and the Broncos were 5 of 13 from the free throw line in the first half. Marissa Sweeney added seven points and nine rebounds for Alvirne.

"I've got all the respect in the world for those Alvirne kids," Kreick said. "They hung in there. They were really well-prepared. It took us a little bit of time to adjust to what they were doing, but our kids stayed with it and trusted the process. It was ugly, but a win is a win."

The Cardinals opened the game with back-to-back 3s from Cramb and Dee to take a 6-0 lead, while the Broncos tried to slow things down in their half-court sets. But in trying to slow the game down, Alvirne was repeatedly called for five-second violations.

Despite that, the Broncos were able to go on a 9-2 run, taking a 9-8 lead on a basket by Brianna Jones.

But on the Cardinals' next possession, Smith hit a 3, and after the shot, Jones was called for a foul, giving Bishop Guertin the ball back. Carney scored on the extra possession, and Smith added another basket with four seconds left in the quarter, and all of a sudden, Bishop Guertin led 15-9 going into the second.

Down 15 to start the second half, Alvirne went into a zone to start the third, and while the defense kept Bishop Guertin off the board for almost five minutes, the Broncos weren't able to close the gap on the other end.

"With a 15-point lead, that's kind of playing into what BG wants to do," Szuksta said. "I thought it was effective, but I don't know if that was by our design or their design."

The Cardinals still led by 15 early in the fourth quarter, but again went scoreless for more than five minutes, and Alvirne was able to cut the lead down to 10 points, 39-29, with 3:32 to play.

With the Broncos forced to foul, Dee, Cramb and Carney combined to make seven straight free throws and push the lead back up to 17 points.

"Tough, grinding, ugly playoff game, and it doesn't surprise me in the least," Kreick said. "I don't think there are any surprises in the playoffs."