NASHUA, N.H. – The 2021-‘22 basketball season is over for the girls of Manchester Memorial as they fell 64-33 in NHIAA Division I Tournament action on Tuesday night to the Cardinals of Bishop Guertin.
The final score belied what was a close game early on, with Bishop Guertin holding just a 12-8 advantage after the first frame. However, the Cardinals would score 16 unanswered points in the second quarter to open up what would eventually become a 32-12 lead at the half, a lead the hosts would comfortably hold for the rest of the contest.
Bishop Guertin Head Coach Brad Krieck said that the win wasn’t exactly a work of art for his squad, including the early goings, but the second quarter run proved how well the Cardinals are capable of playing and accentuated Bishop Guertin’s advantages over Memorial.
“We can get a little more consistent finishing at the rim. That’ll obviously be a big thing for us so we’ll go back to work on that, but year, we have three six footers and they don’t. That’s a big deal sometimes, not rocket science, right?” He said. “(The second quarter) looked more like us. You know, I think we made a conscious decision to play 10 kids in the first quarter and from there on we had a pretty athletic group on the floor with fresh legs.”
For Memorial Head Coach Greg Cotreau Jr., Bishop Guertin also held an edge in terms of strategy during their scoring run.
“Sometimes they were in a full court man, but sometimes it looked like a diamond in one. They did a good job of masking their defense,” said Cotreau Jr. “For four or five possessions in a row, we just didn’t handle it well. Once we settled down, we were fine pretty much the rest of the way, but it’s that four or five possessions where they kill you.”
Sophomore Madison Pepra-Omani knocked down four threes in the third quarter as Memorial attempted to make a comeback, but the Crusaders were unable to make up any ground as the hosts coasted to victory after their second quarter run.
Pepra-Omani led all memorial scorers with 12 points, all of them from the third quarter, adding a steal, assist and rebound in the loss. No other Crusader was in double digits, seniors Elizabeth Barrientos and Paige Thibault each chipped in five rebounds.
For Bishop Guertin, Paige Paquette led the way with 13 points, also adding 10 rebounds and a pair of steals.
Thanks to Londonderry’s 41-40 upset of Concord earlier in the evening, Bishop Guertin will get to play at home again at 7 p.m. on Friday against the 13th seeded Lancers. Bishop Guertin beat Londonderry at home on Dec. 17, 51-30.
