Midseason meeting with Bedford helped Bishop Guertin girls basketball work out its kinks

The Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team prides itself on being a defensive-minded squad, but on Jan. 16, the Cardinals learned their offense needed a fix.

Facing a zone defense for the first time this year, Bishop Guertin scored just 43 points in a loss to Bedford for its only setback against a team from New Hampshire during the regular season.

"We learned a big, big lesson in the middle of the season on how poorly prepared we were to deal with zones," Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. "Our kids, at the beginning of the season, when we played these guys, we got beat by a better team. We learned from it."

While the top-seeded Bulldogs didn't play the same zone in Thursday night's Division I semifinal, they played a zone for almost the entire game and the No. 5 Cardinals had more success against it, hanging on for a 52-50 win.

Bishop Guertin (16-5) came up with ways to attack the zone, and when that didn't work - or Bedford gave the Cardinals the space - they shot over the zone. Senior Caroline Hoffer led the team with 20 points, including 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line and 7 of 7 from the free throw line.

"We’ve been practicing zones since we played them (in the regular season)," Hoffer said. "It was eye-opening for us. We were so focused on man (defenses), but I think the zone actually helped our man (offense). We would just pass the ball around and it got us moving."

And of course, the defense got in on the act, as Bishop Guertin helped force Bedford (19-1) into 23 turnovers.

"I think you saw a very different team (Thursday)," Kreick said. "It wasn’t quite the same zone, but it was a zone, and the kids executed. I think you saw a much more grownup group. That’s what we wanted when we set up the schedule. If ever there was a game where playing that schedule and learning how to grind in tough situations, I think you saw that."

The Cardinals schedule included four games against out-of-state competition, and Bishop Guertin lost all four games, dropping the defending champs down to the fifth seed.

While losing more games than the Cardinals had in the previous two years combined was tough at the time, having it payoff in tournament games has been rewarding.

"In the moment, a loss never feels good, but we knew it would help us in the end," Hoffer said. "I think we forgot about the seeding and we knew we were going to have to play tough games in the end, in the playoff run. We were able to stay focused and finish at the end."

Bishop Guertin will try for its third title in a row at 4 p.m. Saturday at Southern New Hampshire University against No. 2 Pinkerton (17-3). The Cardinals beat the Astros in the final game of the regular season, 65-53, in Nashua.

"Pinkerton is a fantastic team," Kreick said. "They’re well-coached, they’re disciplined, they’re tough. We’re going to have to play our best game of the season to beat that team. If we don’t, they’re going to be the state champions."