MANCHESTER, N.H. – Manchester Memorial remains undefeated, but just barely.
The Crusaders needed overtime to wring out a victory on Saturday, defeating Bedford by a score of 64-62.
Bedford owned the first quarter, building their lead as high as 11 points before settling into an 18-11 advantage going into the second frame. Memorial pushed its press and began to find its shooting touch, draining three scores from downtown to pull out to a 34-32 lead at the half.
“We knew the game wasn’t to be won in the first quarter, so we talked about that in the locker room, that they’re going to go on a run,” said Memorial Head Coach Greg Cotreau. “Don’t think about what happened before, just think ‘next play, next play, it’s a chess match.’”
If the first quarter belonged to Bedford and the second quarter belonged to Memorial, it’s fair to say that the third and fourth quarters didn’t belong to either team, but rather two individuals.
Memorial senior Jennessa Brunette came up just short of a double-double in the second half alone, with eight points and seven rebounds in the final two quarters. Not to be outdone, Bedford junior Isabella King was just as dominant, giving her team seven points and 11 rebounds in the third and fourth quarters.
Neither team found a lead larger than six points in the second half, entering overtime knotted at 58-all.
The Bulldogs found the first four points of overtime, but senior Lyric Grumblatt took a pair of baskets from the free throw line with just over two minutes left and knocked down a baseline three about 30 seconds later to sink a dagger into the visitors that they could not recover from.
“It’s a killer, no doubt about it,” said Bedford Head Coach Kevin Gibbs. “(Grumblatt’s) a sniper and she delivered at the right time.”
For Gibbs, Saturday’s contest had all the passion of the championship contest, and it theoretically could be a preview of one since both squads are currently in the upper echelon of Division I teams.
Still, one key difference between Saturday and an actual championship was that his girls can learn from this loss without having to wait until next season. Saturday was provided positives for Bedford even if it didn’t provide a W.
“It’s not one mistake, it’s not one play, nobody should say ‘I blew the game’ or ‘she blew the game’, we all played really well,” said Gibbs. “I told the girls, this is the most fun you can have, win or lose. Nobody wants to lose by sixty or win by sixty. This is basketball. This is where you learn, this is where you grow.”
Brunette and Grumblatt each finished with 21 points for Memorial, with Brunette getting the double-double with 13 rebounds. Senior Tamrah Gould also ended with 15 points for the Crusaders.
King led all scorers with 23 points, adding 14 rebounds on the way to her double-double. Senior Allison Morgan had 17 points and Amanda Jonas added 12 for Bedford in the loss.
Memorial (6-0) next will host Bishop Guertin at 6:30 on Tuesday in a battle between two of the three remaining unbeatens in Division I, with Merrimack also seeking to keep its undefeated streak going at the same time in a home game against Nashua South.
