Bedford girls basketball puts it all together in win over Dover

BEDFORD – The jersey might say Bulldogs on the front, but that doesn’t mean this has been the same Bedford High School girls basketball team.

Bedford may have entered the year having won 41 of its last 44 games, but with all but two varsity regulars gone, and just one senior on the roster, it was going to take time for the Bulldogs to get on the same page.

That Bedford was able to win eight of its first nine games was icing on the cake, and in Wednesday’s 62-33 win over Dover, the Bulldogs might finally all be on that page together.

“I thought we played a real complete game,” Bedford coach Sue Thomas said. “We’ve had good halves and have had trouble putting a whole game together.

“A lot of teams this year have young teams, and we have a young team. I think in some ways that was missed on people because they’ve heard of Bri (Purcell) and Nikki (Tucci) for so long, but really, they’re the only two who got considerable minutes last year.”

They led the way for Bedford (9-1) against the Green Wave, as each had 14 points to lead the Bulldogs to their best offensive output all season. Courtney O’Connell was also in double figures with 10 points while sophomores Madeline Blake and Jenoyce Laniyan had six each, giving Bedford 50 points from its starting five.

Dover (5-6) got 10 points from Katie Boyatsis and Abby Etter came off the bench to add eight, but the Green Wave struggle to make shots and went 10 of 21 from the free throw line.

“We know we can play better than we did and we need to get ourselves straight a little bit,” Dover coach Dan Casey said. “I’m sure some of their pressure forced us to rush some shots that we probably should have taken a little more time on.

“We missed a ton of layups and a bunch of free throws. I think there were times that they’d go on a run and if we had knocked down some of the makeable shots we had, we could have made things different. We’d do one or two good things and then something bad. It was frustrating.”

Bedford was able to take a 14-3 lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter thanks to its good shooting and pressure defense. The Bulldogs forced Dover into 10 turnovers in the opening frame, and when the Green Wave did get a shot off, it was often off the mark.

“The one thing I told them before the game was that the Dover girls can shoot,” Thomas said. “What we try to do is run enough and keep everyone off-balance. They did get some open looks that fortunately for us they missed. If they hit one or two of those early in the game, and it changes everything.”

Dover did start to make shots toward the end of the quarter, and trailed 18-9 after one. A layup by Abigail Cooke with 4:53 left in the second cut Bedford’s lead to 20-11, but the Bulldogs answered with a 10-1 run and led 34-17 going into halftime.

Tucci had 10 of her 14 points in that first half and Purcell led Bedford with eight points in the second half.

“They’re very good and they have a sense for each other is going to be,” Casey said of Bedford’s guards. “They know where each other’s bailout spots are if they get in trouble. They don’t turn the ball over a lot and they’re solid.”

Thomas felt Wednesday night was the first time both Tucci and Purcell have had a great game together, and she hopes that’s a sign of things to come.

“Bri and Nikki had their breakout game together,” Thomas said. “They’ve had games where one has taken control. Now they know what everyone else on the team can do. The first half of the season was learning.

“I told them we’re still going up. We haven’t peaked yet. We haven’t found our best game yet. We still have an upside.”