New faces help Bedford boys basketball pull away from Bishop Guertin late

BEDFORD – After back-to-back seasons that ended with a Division I championship plaque and a trip to the semifinals, the core group who forged that success was mainly gone from the Bedford High School boys basketball team when it returned to practice in November.

Bedford coach Frank Moreno is excited to attack the challenge of molding the next era, which survived a valuable test after Bishop Guertin outscored Bedford 19-9 in the third quarter to close to within 43-41 on Friday night.

The Bulldogs responded swiftly as Logan O’Connell and senior Jack Hinton combined for 15 points to spearhead Bedford’s 24-point fourth quarter en route to a 67-55 Division I victory over the Cardinals.

“This group is so fun and they’re young compared to the teams we’ve had in the past, so every day is an opportunity to learn and get better,” Moreno said. “This was a great experience for us because we learned how to win a really tough game and grind it out.

Bedford (2-1) opened the season with a 73-66 loss against Trinity before rebounding strongly with an 84-39 win over Nashua North.

“Every day is going to be a new experience for us and they’re fun,” Moreno said. “They’re like sponges. They want to absorb everything and they want to work hard. They were diving on the floor (Friday) chasing for loose rebounds and working really, really hard.”

O’Connell (17 points) and his junior classmate Landon Ellsmore are the only returning Bulldogs who received major bench minutes during a 19-2 season that ended with an 84-66 semifinal loss to North.  Bedford won the 2022 title game with a 66-56 victory over current defending-champion Pinkerton Academy.

“l love this group,” O’Connell said. “I’m sad the other guys have left, but as soon as summer workouts resumed and they were gone, we started working. We’ve got a deep bench and everyone can ball.”

O’Connell pleaded with Hinton to come back to play basketball this season after taking last year off. Hinton (10 points) began the fourth quarter with a drive to the hoop and O’Connell followed with a baseline drive to give Bedford a 47-41 lead.

“I begged him every day,” O’Connell said. “I told him to come out to summer workouts, fall workouts and I really wanted him to come play with us because you could see how well he fits in with us.”

Hinton played on the junior varsity his freshmen and sophomore seasons before taking off last year. The St. Anselm’s College baseball commit hit six 3-pointers during Tuesday’s win over North and drained a 3-pointer late in regulation to give Bedford a 60-51 cushion on Friday.

“The guys on this team I just love,” Hinton said. “Just showing up every day and playing basketball with them is just great; they’re my best friends. I took a year off to focus on baseball but I came back to play with my friends.”

Moreno is thrilled Hinton joins the perimeter game, along with O’Connell and Elsmore, that is complemented in the paint by the likes of senior Connor O’Rourke and freshman Wiji Dak, who scored 12 points apiece.

“(Hinton and O’Connell) just know how to score, they’re pure scorers and they drive a coach crazy sometimes because they break out with what we’re trying to do,” Moreno said. “But I trust them more often than not, they’re going to put it in.”

Bishop Guertin second-year coach Will Horne has been encouraged with his team’s start to the season after his team went 4-14 last year. Eli Youseff netted a game-high 19 points for the Cardinals (1-2).

“You can see the growth, they’re a team that is going to compete,” Horne said. “Bedford is a great team and we gave them all they could handle before they shot lights out down the stretch.”