Bedford girls basketball storms past Bishop Guertin to win D1 championship

KINGSTON – The Bedford High School girls basketball team was in this spot before.

Up 13 points at halftime against Bishop Guertin in Sunday’s Division I championship game, the Bulldogs were in almost the same spot when the teams opened the regular season against each other almost two months ago. In that one, Bedford led by as many as 21 points in the second half before the Cardinals came back to win.

Isabella King wasn’t going to let it happen again.

The Bedford senior scored 12 of her game-high 23 points in the third quarter after Bishop Guertin started to come back again, and the Bulldogs ran away from the Cardinals for a 64-46 win at Sanborn Regional High School.

The title is the second in Bedford history and first since 2013. The win also snaps Bishop Guertin’s run of five straight championships and its 62-game winning streak against in-state opponents; Bedford was the last New Hampshire team to beat the Cardinals, back on Jan. 16, 2018.

“BG came back on us earlier in the season, so we just had to play all four quarters hard and play together,” King said. “I think everyone stepped up (Sunday) and it was a good team win. I went out there with everything I had and it feels so good beating them. That was our goal, that was our dream and to make it come true was amazing.”

Bedford (14-2) also got 14 points from freshman Lana McCarthy while Emma Kasyjanski came off the bench to add 12 points and Saphia Mumpini added seven. Sydney Grogan played a great all-around game for Bedford, scoring four points to go with six rebounds, five assists and two steals, playing on an injured ankle.

“She had an ankle sprain so bad, she was on crutches the last 24 hours,” Bedford coach Kevin Gibbs said of Grogan. “Through therapy and a trainer that can’t be beat, not only did she go out there, she played almost the entire game. The kid is a warrior.

“We knew they were going to come back and take a big swing at us because it happened when we played in Bedford. We knew what was going to happen, so we worked hard. The kids executed.”

The Bulldogs led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter before the Cardinals (18-1) made a late run to close the gap.

Meghan Stack had 15 points to lead Bishop Guertin while Brooke Paquette added 12 points and Kailee McDonald add six. Despite forcing Bedford into 13 turnovers in the first half, the Cardinals struggled on offense, and after getting within 11 points to open the third quarter, they couldn’t slow down King.

“I think we just got beat by a better team,” Bishop Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. “Their two lead kids scored the ball pretty well, but heck, (Kasyjanski) comes out here and knocks down two 3s. They just played better than we did. I don’t know if that’s youth, but sometimes, people are better than you, and this was one of those days.”

Bedford had a 7-5 lead in the final minutes of the first quarter and stretched it to 15-7 at the end of one. The Bulldogs opened the second quarter with a 14-2 run to go up 29-9 before a pair of 3s by Stack and Paquette got the Cardinals back in it.

Bishop Guertin cut the lead down to 11 points on the first possession of the third quarter, but a pair of free throws and a 3 by King got it back up to 16 points. Every time it looked like the Cardinals might get closer, King stepped up with a big play, despite being followed every where she went on the court.

“Their defense was great and they were all over me,” she said. “They were trying to faceguard me and I had to fight off screens and try to get open shots. It all came to me, which was good.”

A 16-0 run by Bedford at the end of the third and start of the fourth – highlight by back-to-back 3s by Kasyjanski to open the final frame – helped the Bulldogs take a 60-28 lead with 5:50 remaining.

The Cardinals got a 3 from Catelyn Wheeler to start a 10-0 run, leading to a Bedford timeout, but Bishop Guertin wouldn’t get the deficit under 20 points until it was too late.

“It’s not something they’re used to, but they’ll grow from it,” Kreick said. “I told them, the most important thing is, they played their faces off. We couldn’t have asked for anything more from them, they were great all year long. This is going to hurt like heck, and it’s supposed to, because they care so much.”

For Bedford, it was a moment to savor, for this year’s team and the three seniors who graduated in 2020 without getting the chance to face Bishop Guertin in the semifinals.

“We were ready for that semifinal,” Gibbs said. “We felt good about where we were at. One of the things we talked about, we had unfinished business. For the last two weeks, once we got into the playoffs, we determined, we were playing for ourselves, and for last year’s seniors. They did it. They brought it home, not just for the 13 of them, but the 16.”