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Bishop Guertin girls dominate opener vs. Winnacunnet

By Chris Pantazis - | Dec 14, 2018

NASHUA – The three-time defending Division I girls’ basketball champion Bishop Guertin Cardinals began their drive toward a fourth consecutive crown in their own Collignon Gymnasium last night by trouncing a Winnacunnet High Lady Warriors’ crew which is definitely in a rebuilding mode.

Fourth-year coach Brad Kreick saw his Guertin group handle the visiting troop, which started its new season this past Tuesday night with a lopsided loss to Windham in Hampton, quite easily in a truly decisive 69-14 victory. Veteran coach Cassie Turcotte’s Seacoast team has now dropped nine straight decisions dating back to last season, which the Warriors began at a fine 9-3 before slipping into a significant and continuing skid.

Guertin tore its way out to a 12-0 lead and didn’t allow the visiting Warriors even a single point through the first three-plus minutes of play. And when the first quarter concluded the hosts grasped a commanding 23-4 advantage.

And any thoughts anybody within the confines of the BG gymnasium had about Winnacunnet making a game of it from that point on evaporated in period two as the defending state champions outscored their guests by the overwhelming margin of 28-0 during that second stanza.

When asked if perhaps he and his charges would have been better off facing more of a challenge on opening night, the Guertin coach replied, “You play who’s on your schedule and take it one game at a time. But this was a great team win for us. Everybody got substantial minutes and contributed.”

The locals had no less than 10 players net points and three of them finish in double figures in scoring.

Coach Kreick’s defending champs brought back all but one player – reliable veteran Caroline Hoffer – from a 2017-18 title-taking troop while adding promising newcomers and transfer students Charlotte Sullivan (a sophomore forward) from Londonderry High and Brenna Paquette (a junior guard) from Hudson and Alvirne.

The junior-heavy 2018-19 BG bunch includes returning starters and 11th graders Hannah Muchmore (guard), Ava Owens (guard-forward), Erin Carney (guard), Aaliyah Foreman (forward), and Briana Wilcox (guard/forward).

Wilcox paced the potent BG offense with some 17 points in the campaign-opener while her fellow junior Addison Smith tossed in 13 and Carney was good for 11. Owens added eight to the prolific offensive performance put forth by the Cardinals.

“I always say that we’re at our best when we have a deep lineup, and we have that kind of team this year,” said the BG coach.

With victory number one tucked comfortably away, coach Kreick and his crew now enjoy an entire week away from competitive play before resuming same in a home battle against the always-tough Bedford High bunch in Nashua next Friday the 21st.

“We’ve had some great games with Bedford in the past,” observed the BG coach, with a quite noticeable grin covering his face.

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