Shoukier, Bedford boys basketball get big win over Pinkerton (video)

BEDFORD - Ali Shoukier goes into every game with the intention of doing whatever he can to help the Bedford High School boys basketball team a win.

On most nights, that means doing all the little things that don't show up on the scorebook.

On Tuesday night against Pinkerton Academy, Shoukier's efforts did, as he scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to help the Bulldogs take control of the game, as Bedford cruised in the second half to an 89-58 win over the Astros in a Division I game.

The junior captain hit three 3-pointers and Luke O'Connell also had three 3s as part of his 17 points to keep the Bulldogs (5-0 in D1, 8-0 overall) undefeated. Landon Ellsmore added 15 points while Logan O'Connell and Ryan O'Rourke each chipped in with 11 points, as Bedford scored 80 or more points for the third time this season.

“Usually his game is getting to the rim, but he’s worked so hard on his perimeter play that it doesn’t surprise me,” Bedford coach Frank Moreno said of Shoukier’s shooting performance. “We knew we had it in him, and when he is cooking like that, we all play off it and the whole team was fired up for him.”

Shoukier's output in the first half helped Bedford take a 50-37 lead into halftime, as the Bulldogs started to pull away midway through the second quarter.

“We have 13 guys on the team that are capable of stepping up, putting more points on the board,” Shoukier said. “(Tuesday) just happened to be my night. I stayed confident, let the game come to me. I wasn’t trying to force many shots. I just wanted to make sure  that I took the right shots and I wanted to make sure that was what was best for the team.”

For Pinkerton coach Mike Dunham, it just showed why Bedford is a hard team to prepare for this season.

“My scouting report, it’s like kind of play off (Shoukier), kind of let him shoot,” Dunham said. “He shot it really, really well. We were really afraid of Ellsmore and both O’Connells. That’s on me.”

The Astros also had a tough shooting night, as they were below the 76 points they'd averaged through their first five games.

Josh Phanor had 17 points, including two 3s, while Wilson Youssef added 10 points and Adam Ajouz scored nine points. Brady Sullivan, Pinkerton's leading scorer, had just five points.

“My guys didn’t shoot it great (Tuesday), and there’s going to be a game where we hit 20 3s,” Dunham said. “We just didn’t shoot well.”

Sullivan was a big part of Bedford's defensive game plan going into the game and Moreno was pleased to see the Bulldogs able to execute on that end of the floor as well.

“He hurt us last year,” Moreno said of Sullivan. We kind of challenged the boys, if we can hold him, contain him, we’ll be in good shape. That was a big area of focus for us.

“We knew that we couldn’t let up because they shoot the ball so well. The whole message at halftime was just to stay focused and continue to play. Don’t let up because these guys can make  a 12-point lead disappear in a split second.”

Up 13 points going into the third, Bedford was able to stretch it to 61-45 with just over four minutes to play in the quarter. Pinkerton took a timeout and was able to cut into the lead a little, but the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run to end the quarter with a 71-52 lead.

“We’ve got to get back to the drawing board defensively,” Dunham said. “But at the end of the day, we’re 5-1. We won five games all of last year. We’ve already exceeded that right now, and I’m glad this happened earlier in the year and not at the end.”