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# Second-half surge leads Bedford girls basketball past Alvirne in D1 quarterfinals
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/second-half-surge-leads-bedford-girls-basketball-past-alvirne-in-d1-quarterfinals/
- Published: 2013-03-04T00:37:24.000Z
- Updated: 2013-03-04T00:37:24.000Z
- Description: BEDFORD – Sue Thomas may have been pleased with how her Bedford High School girls basketball team was playing, but it doesn’t mean she was happy.
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, Winter Sports, Alvirne, Bedford, Division I, girls basketball, playoffs, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

BEDFORD – Sue Thomas may have been pleased with how her Bedford High School girls basketball team was playing, but it doesn’t mean she was happy.

The Bulldogs muddled through the first half of Saturday’s Division I quarterfinal against Alvirne, but in the third quarter, No. 2 Bedford broke away and defeated the No. 7 Broncos 51-35.

McKenzie Brown scored 18 points, including 14 in the second half, and Bedford went on an 8-0 run midway through the third quarter to take control of a tied game. The win sends the Bulldogs to the semifinals for the first time, where they will face No. 6 Winnacunnet at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Southern New Hampshire University.

![Bedford's Haley Driscoll gets a hand on the ball as Alvirne's Sandi Purcell drives to the basket. For more photos, go to the Photo Album.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/bc/58/bc5866d0-9fd9-4113-b959-670d6f16471d/content/images/www-nh-highschoolsports-com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jmalvbball030213-a4b14-1.jpg)

Bedford's Haley Driscoll gets a hand on the ball as Alvirne's Sandi Purcell drives to the basket. For more photos, go to the Photo Album.

Brianna Purcell added 10 points for the Bulldogs and Rachel Collins had eight as Bedford outscored Alvirne 28-12 in the second half.

But Bedford (18-2) struggled in the first half, falling behind in the first quarter before trading baskets with Alvirne (14-6) in the second. The teams went into halftime knotted at 23.

“I told them they should feel pleased that it was tied,” Thomas said. “Alvirne played very good and we were kind of flat in the first half. Our defense was OK, but we were losing our players. We never actually ran our offense once in the first half.”

If Thomas was pleased with the Bulldogs’ performance, Alvirne coach Steve Tracy was thrilled with the first half.

“I think we did a good job in the first half,” Tracy said. “We made a pact at halftime, don’t let them go on any runs. I think they went on a little bit of a run in the third and then they started fastbreaking on us. I didn’t go deep on the bench and it affected us a little, that and the size.”

A basket by Alvirne’s Tori LaRoche tied the game at 27 with 4:34 remaining in the third, but Bedford went on a quick 8-0 run, getting transition baskets from Brown and Purcell to go up 35-27.

The Broncos were able to cut the lead to three early in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs answered with another run, this time a 10-0 spurt, to make it a 13-point game with 2:28 to play.

“I kept preaching do not jam rebounders,” Tracy said. “I think we did a good job in the first half, but when you’re down, it’s kind of a catch-22\. We definitely got burned on those. The transition game, we did a good job in the first half, but they just wore us down.”

Alvirne got 11 points from Sandi Purcell, but no one else had more than five for the Broncos.