Bishop Guertin needs overtime to beat Salem in D1 boys basketball opener

NASHUA – The Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team was on its way to a season-opening win Thursday night over Salem.

Three straight baskets by Kyle Gavin, including a 3-pointer, gave the Cardinals an eight-point lead with under three minutes to play. But then the wheels fell off, as three Bishop Guertin turnovers helped Salem go on an 8-0 to tie the game at 59 and force overtime.

Cardinals coach Jim Migneault had one thing to say to his players as they prepared for an unexpected four minutes of basketball.

“I told them ‘we won it once, now we’ve got to win it twice,’ ” Migneault said. “We had to settle down and get under control and I had to get the right five people on the floor.”

Migneault found the right mix and the Cardinals made 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch to close the game on an 8-3 and beat the Blue Devils 72-67 in the Division I opener for both teams.

Gavin led all scorers with 35 points, all but 10 of which came after halftime, including a four-minute stretch where the junior had all 10 of the Cardinals points.

“We kind of gave it up at the end, but it felt good to get the win,” Gavin said. “I just want to make the best play for my team and find the gaps to get a better shot.”

A lot of times, those shots came from inside the paint, as the Cardinals were able to get to the basket most of the night. But early on, they weren’t converting on those shots.

“I think we missed 10 layups and they were uncontested layups,” Migneault said of the first half. “You can’t miss those. We had to play some defense on people. I thought our defense did very well.”

The teams were tied at 23 at the break and after going back and forth to start the second half, Bishop Guertin started to pull away midway through the third quarter. Salem turned the ball over seven times in the quarter and the Cardinals went on a 9-3 run to take a 40-30 lead with 1:52 to go until the fourth.

But the Blue Devils came back, ending the third on a 9-0 run to make it a one-point game.

“I thought we had moments of real good play and bad play,” Salem coach Rob McLaughlin said. “I was proud of how they fought back. They really kept coming, but I think the reason we had to keep battling was because of some of the holes we put ourselves in.”

Salem found itself in another hole early in the fourth. Bishop Guertin opened the quarter with an 8-2 spurt, but the Blue Devils scored six straight to again make it a one-point game, 48-47. And the Cardinals countered again, going on an 11-4 run – Gavin had seven points during that stretch – to go up 59-51 with 2:45 to play.

Once again, Salem had an answer.

“We got soft with the ball,” Migneault said. “We had bad, bad turnovers and that’s what got them back in. We had to win the game twice, and you don’t want to do that too often.”

The Blue Devils had a chance to win in regulation, holding the ball for nearly a minute at the end of the game, but Danny Nugent’s 3-pointer with six seconds left was off the mark. But even before that, Salem had an opportunity to go ahead.

“We had exactly what we wanted, we just didn’t execute it,” McLaughlin said. “We had missed a roll to the basket right off the bat that was open. When we executed, we looked real good and I think we can play with almost anybody. But when we don’t, it got ugly.”

Timothy Dodier led Salem with 18 points while Isaiah Latham added 11 and Nugent and Michael Felix each had nine.

Bishop Guertin also got 10 points from Joe Marandola and Costas Niarhos chipped in with nine.