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Bishop Guertin opens boys basketball tourney with win

By Hector Longo - Correspondent | Mar 7, 2017

LONDONDERRY – For what seemed like an endless second half, Matt Regan pleaded for his team to take better shots, make more intelligent decisions and if at all possible, knock down a free throw or two.

Fortunately for the first-year Bishop Guertin boys hoop coach, those Cardinal shortcomings mattered little. No. 9 Guertin played such a dynamite first half of basketball in Tuesday’s Division I playoff opener at eighth-seeded Londonderry, there was ample cushion.

BG built a 41-20 halftime lead and while the final score, 64-57, might look a tad tighter than expected, this one was never in doubt.

“(The lead) made us play comfortable instead of still playing with the urgency we had in the first half,” said Regan. “We got tentative.

“Give them credit, they picked it up defensively, too. But I thought we made the plays that we had to.”

Friday night at 7 p.m., the Cardinals will head to top-seeded and unbeaten Portsmouth in the D-I quarterfinals.

“Portsmouth hasn’t lost in almost three years. They’re that good,” said Regan, whose club improved to 9-10.

What a way to start the postseason.

Senior Clay Crowell opened the game with a pair of unanswered 3-point bombs, and BG hit the hardwood in the fast lane.

By the time Londonderry could blink, Pat Donovan added a trey of his own, followed by a Mike Rinko banker and a third triple from Crowell to make it 14-0.

“That’s as good as we’ve played,” said Regan. “We played with a lot of confidence. We made some shots off some sets early, and they trusted the game plan after that. (Crowell) settled us in nicely. From there, it’s just about trusting it.”

The half would end pretty much like it started – all BG – as Rinko closed things out with a traditional 3-point play and another strong drive for two more.

In the half, Crowell netted 16 and Rinko a dozen. Meanwhile, Londonderry found itself in desperate straits.

“We made some 3s early and that opened up the foul line,” Regan added. “We did a great job with our big guys attacking from the foul line. Rinko and Yanis (Nyantenji) did a nice job of controlling that space.”

The pressure did get to BG a bit, but Londonderry never found its best offense. A pair of Jake Coleman free throws with two minutes left pushed the advantage under 10 for the first time since the early first quarter as the Cards maintained enough space to earn the trip to the Seacoast for the quarters.

Crowell paced BG with 23, and Rinko chipped in 18. Donovan had 11, while Nyantenji and Joe Hyatt had five for the Cards, who were an unhealthy 17 of 31 from the foul line in the win.

Londonderry’s all-time leading scorer, Coleman, closed out his spectacular career with 23 points.

And now the focus for BG turns to what many might deem impossible at Portsmouth.

“We’re the only team that’s been up on them in the fourth quarter this year,” Regan said of the regular-season date with Portsmouth. “Then they played with a little urgency and pulled away in the fourth. We lost by nine.

“We have to play like we have nothing to lose, getting over the hump in this first game will help with confidence. But if we don’t execute, we’re going to be in trouble.”

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