Murray gets 1K point, Bishop Guertin girls basketball gets big win over Mercy (video)

NASHUA - Olivia Murray knew she was close to a milestone, but the Bishop Guertin High School senior tried not to let it affect her play.

Instead, she just opened Saturday's girls basketball game against Mercy High School, from Middletown, Conn., scoring points like always.

Murray scored nine of the Cardinals' first 13 points, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark just 3:26 into the game, and Bishop Guertin led from start to finish, cruising to a 69-39 win over the Tigers to remain undefeated on the season.

"It was in the back of my mind," she said of the career milestone. "It felt good, but that wasn’t my main focus going into the game. My main focus was to win the game and stay undefeated and play really well as a team and that’s what we did."

Murray finished with a game-high 19 points while Catelyn Wheeler added 18 points and Brooke Paquette was in double figures with 15 markers. The Cardinals (12-0) finished with 22 made field goals from inside the 3-point line, many of them coming early in transition.

Bishop Guertin led 26-12 at the end of the first quarter and stretched the lead to 20 points at halftime.

"Very pleased with how they came out (Saturday) even with a lot of distraction," Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. "Good distraction with Liv getting her thousandth point. I just thought they handled it really well. They didn’t force it, they let it happen naturally, and then just settled into the game. Another good test against a pretty good team and we’ll take it."

Mercy (13-4) got 17 points from Ava Giansiracusa while Sophie Hedge had 11 points and Avery Kohs hit two 3-pointers for six points. The Tigers had won six of their last seven coming into the game and were averaging better than 55 points per game coming in, but they couldn't handle the Cardinals' size advantage.

"They’re bigger and stronger and more athletic (than us)," Mercy coach Tim Kohs said. "They’re a machine. They’re really talented. We’re guarding their 6-2 kids with 5-2 kids, is what it feels like.

"Their guards are super tough with the ball. We could have played better, but it’s hard to play better when the team is better than you in spots. We had a couple of plays early where we don’t make a shot, we hang our head, and they make a layup the other way. We knew it was a big challenge coming up here, but that’s why you play good teams."

The crowd came prepared with signs for Murray, and she didn't disappoint, scoring her first basket off the opening tip to give Bishop Guertin a 2-0 lead just 10 seconds into the game. Moments later, she hit a 3-pointer from the corner, and after the Cardinals' defense got a stop, she added another basket to make it 11-4 with 4:34 left in the first.

Kreick called a timeout and the Cardinals surrounded Murray on the court to celebrate the milestone.

"She’s always been a really gifted scorer," the coach said. "We’ve had some pretty talented kids along the way and we’ve only had two kids score 1,000 points. I think it’s a testament to her consistency. With the way we play, we don’t have kids taking 18 or 20 shots a game, which is what you see in some other programs with really gifted scorers. It’s a testament to years of consistency. All the credit to her."

Murray is the second player since Kreick has been the head coach to reach the 1,000-point mark, following Erin Carney, who also scored her 1,000 point against Mercy in 2020. Murray transferred in from Salem as as sophomore the following year.

"I think it says we have a really unselfish team," she said. "We don’t care about individual stats, we care about winning games, sharing the ball, and finding the open person. We want to win together as a team."

The lead stayed around 20 points for most of the third quarter, until the Cardinals ended the frame with a 6-0 run in the final two minutes to take a 53-29 lead into the fourth.

"We got a little goofy in the third quarter, but we called a timeout and the kids settled down," Kreick said.

The run stretched to 15-0 into the fourth quarter, as Bishop Guertin went up 62-29. A 3 by Paquette with 4:03 to play made it 69-31 and Kreick emptied the bench moments later.