Cardinals swoop into Manchester, drop first loss on Trinity

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BG’s Connor McGowan elevates toward the hoop as Trinity’s Connor Bishop stands tall in defense during Tuesday night’s clash in Manchester. Stacy Harrison photo

MANCHESTER, NH – Trinity High School head boys basketball coach Ray Farmer said Bishop Guertin may be the scariest varsity boys team in the state.

BG coach Wil Horne said his team was due.

Both were proven correct Tuesday night.

The high-flying Cardinals, in fact, carrying 1-3 record, made the relatively short trek from Nashua to Manchester and held off a late Pioneers charge to upset the previously undefeated hosts, 61-56.

“We know (the Pioneers) are a really disruptive team, so the ball movement was key, taking care of the ball, kind of valuing each possession,” said Horne, ” you know, not necessarily holding the ball on offense, but just being patient, taking good shots and knowing that was one of the ways we were going to be able to beat them.”

And beat them they did.

After a hot start to go up, 18-9, in the first quarter, the Cardinals maintained that lead to head into halftime up, 31-23. They extended their advantage with a 19-point third to enter the fourth quarter up, 50-38.

Those were important points as the buckets finally began to drop for the Pioneers in the final frame, as they clawed back to draw within four points in the final minute.

But BG stiffened on defense to stymie the comeback and held on for the five-point victory.

“They’re the scariest team in the state,” said Farmer. “When they play great teams, they play great, and I knew tonight they were going to bring it.”

Junior Connor McGowan spurred the Cardinals with 23 points, including 12 in the second half; sophomore Eli Youssef added 12 markers and seven other Cardinals contributed on the scoreboard to complete the balanced scoring effort.

Junior Sam Woodward saves the ball from going out of bounds during BG’s road upset of Trinity on Tuesday. Stacy Harrison photo

“I know the level of kids in there, and I know how hard they work, so I’d take our kids against anyone in the state, but you’ve got to show up and play the person in front of you,” said Horne. “A lot of times we’ve been beating ourselves the last couple games, so it’s good we went out and didn’t do the things to beat ourselves and we took care of what we needed to at the end of the game.”

Junior Xander McBournie led the Pioneers in scoring with 17 points, including 8 in the fourth quarter, while Trinity’s lone senior, Shawn O’ Neil, notched seven of his 11 points in the final frame. Sophomore Jordan Torres was the team’s most consistent player, scoring eight points in the first half and six in the second half.

“We just struggled to put the ball in the hole all night. You know, we couldn’t make a layup tonight, and that happens, and that’s OK,” said Farmer. “But when that happens our defense has to be our catalyst and defensively tonight we just weren’t in tune, we weren’t talking, we weren’t doing the little things that matter.

“It’s only game five, and we’re not where we need to be, and I love this,” he added. “You know what I mean? This is great for us. We’re still figuring out who we are and getting into the groove, so I’m not worried about it, but miss or make shots, that’s not our game, we need to get better on defense.”

BG, on the other hand, now looks to harness its newfound momentum.

“We knew once we got the new year going that we’d be able to get some momentum with everyone’s basketball legs now under them,” said Horne. “I feel like we have that now, so onto Spaulding on Thursday. That’s how quick the turnaround is.”

Indeed, Guertin (now 2-3) hosts the Red Raiders at 6:30 Thursday, while Trinity (4-1) looks to get back on track when they head to Nashua North for a 5:30 tipoff Friday.

Improving each game and peaking heading into the postseason, of course, will be pivotal for both teams, as Horne said this year’s title chase looks to be wide open as parity appears to be prevailing atop Division I through the first quarter of the season.

“There are a lot of good players, and anybody can beat anybody on any kind of night, so it’s going to be who shows up, who makes free throws, who’s going to rebound and who’s going to defend,” he said. “I’m going to be honest with you, there are like seven or eight teams that feel really good about their chances going into the postseason.”


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