Increased defensive intensity in second half helps Bishop Guertin boys basketball past Nashua South (video)

NASHUA - If the Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team was going to win Tuesday night's game against Nashua South, it was going to have to play some of its best basketball.

The Cardinals did that in the third quarter and then held on down the stretch.

Bishop Guertin outscored the Panthers by 12 points in the first eight minutes of the second half, erasing a halftime deficit, and did just enough down the stretch to take a 70-66 win over South in the Belanger Gym at Nashua South in both teams' first Division I game after the holiday break.

Matt Santosuosso and Tyler Mackey each scored 18 points, with each scoring 13 in the second half, as the Cardinals (3-1) opened the third with a 17-4 run to take an 11-point lead, the largest for either team to that point. Santosuosso had three of his team's nine 3-pointers, while Luke Anderson added 14 points, with two 3s.

"Defensive intensity, that was the change and that’s what we wanted to change," Bishop Guertin coach John Fisher said. "South is a very talented basketball team and they’re well-coached. We had to have our best basketball game in order to be able to compete.

"I thought we had a pretty good game. A couple of rolls either way, that’s a South victory. Still some things we can work on."

The Panthers (4-1) got 27 points from Zac Castonguay, who returned after missing last week's Nashua Holiday Basketball Tournament with an illness. Josh Caruso added 19 points, including 9 for 9 at the free throw line, and Denis Wainaina and Alize Roig-Cortes each added seven points.

As a team, South was 18 of 20 at the line, outscoring the Cardinals by 13 points there, but the Panthers hit just four 3-pointers, getting outscored by 15 behind the arc. Some of that was a stagnant offense, where South was forced into make difficult shots.

"Most of it was just individual great plays," South coach Nate Mazerolle said. "They were all tough shots and you can’t sustain that way. We never got into a rhythm offensively. There was no movement on offense, there was standing around, watching, hoping someone else makes a great play. You’re not going to win tough games that way."

It's what Fisher wanted to see his team's defense do, forcing the Panthers into tougher attempts, but with South's ability to make some of them, it didn't always work.

"Exactly what we’re looking for," the coach said. "Hardest shots in the gym, that’s what we want them to take. The only downside is that South can make those and they did. Those guys can all play well."

Castonguay was the one making most of them in the first half, as he had 14 of his points before halftime to keep South in the game. The Cardinals took an 8-2 lead early, but the Panthers outscored them 15-8 the rest of the way, taking a 17-16 lead on a buzzer beater by Castonguay.

The game was tied seven times and the lead changed seven times in the first half, with a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Roig-Cortes giving the Panthers a 33-31 lead at the break.

But Bishop Guertin started the second half strong, opening with a 9-2 run to take a 40-35 lead and force South to take a timeout just 2:18 into the half. The Cardinals stretched the run to 17-4, taking a 48-37 lead on a 3 by Santosuosso with 3:05 to play in the third.

"When we press, we’d almost get one and then give up a layup," Mazerolle said. "They broke pressure quite well and it was a situation where our turnovers and our shot selection, which hasn’t been great for the first four games either, came back to haunt us."

Bishop Guertin took a 54-44 lead into the fourth quarter and stretched it to 12 points before South started to climb back into it. The Panthers scored six straight to cut the lead to 61-55, but Mackey hit a 3-pointer to push it back to nine points.

But after the 3, the senior, who celebrated the shot by holding up three fingers, was called for a technical foul, and Caruso made both free throws to get the Panthers back within seven points. South didn't score on the possession after and Santusousso scored to make it 66-57.

South got a layup from Karsten Lemire, and after the basket, his pressure helped force a turnover that led to a dunk by Wainaina, cutting the Cardinals' lead to 66-61 with 1:08 remaining.

"We’ve got to play smarter in those situations," Fisher said. "We don’t normally bring the ball up the sidelines against a press, but when you’re up 10, you’ve got a different level of confidence than if it was tied."

Bobby Canaway scored for Bishop Guertin at the other end, and with the Panthers with only two team fouls, it looked like South might run out of time before it could put the Cardinals on the line.

But Bishop Guertin turned the ball over with 25.8 seconds remaining, and after a timeout, Caruso was fouled on a 3-point attempt. The sophomore made all three to get the Panthers within 68-64 with 13.4 seconds to play.

South finally put the Cardinals in the bonus, sending Anderson to the line with 9.7 seconds left, and the senior made both free throws. But Bishop Guertin fouled on a 3 again, this time putting Castonguay at the line with 4.1 left, with a chance to make it a one-possession game.

The junior made the first and the third, though, and South ran out of time.

After opening the season with four wins, including two by a point, Mazerolle believes losing a close game will be helpful down the road.

"It’s a great learning experience," he said. "That film will be wonderful education. We’ll get better because of it."