Second-half run pushes Bedford girls basketball past Pinkerton (video)

DERRY - Of all the things the Bedford High School girls basketball team prepared for going into Monday night's game against Pinkerton, perhaps the biggest one was to just remain calm.

The Bulldogs did so when they got out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter and when the Astros came back to take a three-point lead into halftime.

Down by seven points midway through the third quarter, Bedford calmly started to make its way back, retaking the lead late in the frame and then holding off Pinkerton down the stretch for a 62-58 win in a Division I contest, handing the Astros their first loss of the year.

The Bulldogs (12-2) went on a 12-3 run in the third to turn that seven-point deficit into a six-point lead and they were able to extend that advantage to as many as nine points in the fourth quarter before the Astros (13-1) started to come back. Pinkerton made it a three-point game twice, including with eight seconds remaining, but Bedford made just enough free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

"Pinkerton is an awesome team," Bedford coach Kevin Gibbs said. "We had to be calm, and especially when they threw the zone at us, we knew they’d go to it. We prepped for it, we prepped for their man defense, and the kids made things flow."

The Astros went to the zone defense in the first half to try to slow down Bedford's Lana McCarthy, who finished with a game-high 26 points, eight of which came in the first quarter as the Bulldogs built a 15-4 lead.

The switch worked at first, as Pinkerton went on a 13-0 run to take the lead early in the second and led 27-24 at halftime.

"We did the 2-3 (zone) to try to eliminate Lana knowing we’d give up opportunities on the outside," Pinkerton coach Lani Buskey said. "We told the girls, they had to get out there quick. We just didn’t have the leg power."

In the third quarter, Bedford started to find ways to beat the zone, and with the game tied at 34, back-to-back 3-pointers from Lyla Stein and Emma Kasyjanski put the Bulldogs in front for good. Kasyjanski, who finished nine points, added another 3 with 5:06 remaining that gave Bedford a 53-46 lead, while Kate Allard added 12 points.

Stein also hit two free throws in the final minute, as the freshman was forced into the starting lineup in place of Sydney Grogan, who didn't play after injuring her left ankle in Saturday's win over Goffstown.

"The kid I’m most proud of is (Stein)," Gibbs said. "She got pushed into action as the point guard. She grew a ton. She went from being very nervous to, all of a sudden, when she hit that 3, to very confident and started running the offense better.

"Emma came up huge with some of her shots. When we got up 53-46, we started feeling really good about ourselves. You start playing with confidence, you start taking some of their confidence away."

Pinkerton got 18 points from Avah Ingalls while Sydney Gerossie added 13 points and Kristina Packowski was also in double figures with 10 points.

Gerossie hit a pair of 3s down the stretch to keep Pinkerton within striking distance, including one with eight seconds remaining to make it 61-58. But McCarthy made one of two free throws at the other end to put the game out of reach.

"I don’t think we were very focused," Buskey said. "We weren’t as disciplined as we needed to be to compete with one of the top dogs. I think that was pretty evident by the start. You can’t start like that against a team like this and expect to win. You fight back and by the time you fight back, you’re exhausted. You use all your magic and they figure out the magic."