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# Lessons learned by all in Bishop Guertin girls basketball's win over Pinkerton
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/lessons-learned-by-all-in-bishop-guertin-girls-basketballs-win-over-pinkerton/
- Published: 2021-02-19T14:40:13.000Z
- Updated: 2021-02-19T14:40:13.000Z
- Description: DERRY - Classes were in session Thursday afternoon inside the Hackler Gymnasium, and both the Bishop Guertin High School and Pinkerton Academy girls basketball teams came away learning some valuable lessons. While the Cardinals came away with a 52-37 win, each side will know just how well those less
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, girls basketball, Pinkerton, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

DERRY - Classes were in session Thursday afternoon inside the Hackler Gymnasium, and both the Bishop Guertin High School and Pinkerton Academy girls basketball teams came away learning some valuable lessons.

While the Cardinals came away with a 52-37 win, each side will know just how well those lessons went in less than two weeks, when the Division I playoffs are scheduled to begin.

For Bishop Guertin (12-0), it was a time to figure out how to win on the road in the division against a tough opponent.

"I think this was a really good growth experience for us," Cardinals coach Brad Kreick said. "We’re still young, and you can see that from time to time, but our kids play their butts off.

"That’s a very good basketball team. Pinkerton is physical, they’re a bunch of upperclassmen, we’re on the road. This is a tough place to play and we get out of here with a 15-point win. I will take that seven days a week and twice on Sunday. I thought our kids did a nice job. They competed and I think they learned a lot."

Meghan Stack led Bishop Guertin with 19 points, 11 of which came in the second half, while Catelyn Wheeler and Olivia Murray each finished with 12 points each.

The Cardinals started strong, leading 17-10 at the end of the first quarter, and went into halftime up 30-19\. Despite being down, Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey felt a lot of her team's problems were self-inflicted.

"They’re good, but if we make some of our own shots, if we know how good we are and play how good we are, we can hang with any team," the coach said. "I think more often than not, we beat ourselves. BG’s defense does a lot, not to take away from it, but we missed some uncontested layups."

Kristina Packowski had 12 points to lead the Astros (5-1) while Becca Farnum had seven points and Avah Ingalls added six.

Pinkerton was able to cut the lead down to nine points twice in the third quarter and again on a basket by Allison Ingalls with 5:21 left in the fourth quarter. But the Cardinals responded with a 7-0 run, getting two baskets from Wheeler and 3 of 4 free throws from Stack, to go up 48-32 with four minutes to play.

"You can’t give BG second opportunities," Buskey said of the Cardinals' late run. "You can’t do it. You’re never going to beat them if you give them second opportunities.

"I called them out in the first quarter, they did a better job in the second quarter, and in the second half, I think my girls were winded. Against BG, I don’t go as deep as I typically do, so I was challenging girls to play longer. It showed at the end, but we’ll be ready next time."

While the Cardinals point totals dropped each quarter, Kreick knows his teams typically start playing their best offensively when crunch time hits. What Bishop Guertin was able to do defensively was a step in the right direction in the coach's eyes.

"We’re always a work-in-progress until the final three weeks of the season offensively," Kreick said. "I have all the respect in the world for what (Buskey) does with that program. Defensively, I think we grew up a little bit. Half the points they got on us in the first half were free throws."

The teams were originally scheduled to play twice during the final week of January, but a school-wide shutdown at Pinkerton due to an increase in COVID-19 cases led to the postponement or cancellation of five games for the Astros. When the season started back up, Buskey wanted to get at least one game against the Cardinals back on the schedule.

"I pushed to have at least one with BG because it’s a good test," she said. "You can figure out your measurement. I think my team needed to know where it stands. Now we know what we need to do. We were beating other teams even doing this, but when we get to the BGs and Bedfords, if you do that stuff, you’ll lose by 20."

Both teams are back on the court Friday at 6 p.m., as Bishop Guertin hosts Merrimack and Pinkerton heads to Nashua South.