Telegraph photo by TOM KING Bishop Guertin's Erin Carney goes up for two of her 23 points against Nashua North's Katie Carr during the Cards' 70-41 win Thursday night at North.

NASHUA – They had no fear.

Against the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team, sometimes that’s half the battle. But that’s all the Nashua North Titans could use that approach, one half in a 70-41 loss at the hands of the unbeaten Cardinals.

“The first half was fun to watch,” North coach Christina Bean said. “The girls came out, had a game plan and they followed it. Got everything I could as for out of them in the first half. But it’s tough to keep that up the whole game.”

It was just 34-23 BG at the half, and that’s like a three point game in the minds of many when they face the Cardinals. An 18-2 run in the second half turned a 44-32 game into 62-34, but that still wasn’t enough to make BG coach Brad Kreick happy. Remember, he wasn’t thrill with the way the 9-0 Cards finished up a 13 point win at Pinkerton, and he wasn’t happy with the way this one went for the first two-plus quarters, despite 23 points overall from junior guard Erin Carney.

Do his players feel they can turn the switch on and off at any time?

“Honestly, I wish I knew the answer to that,” Kreick said. “I’ll take a lot of responsibility for my frustration. I just have to do a better job reaching them day in, day out. We’re wildly inconsistent even in a 29 point win. But the inconsistency is troubling.”

The Titans didn’t have anyone in double figures, but they did have three with nine points each – Arianna Motivala, Bianca Gershgorin and Janessa Lofton. You could tell they were going to give it a superb effort when they pressed the Cards at times and trailed only 16-11 after the first eight minutes.

“They played very hard,” Kreick said of the Titans, now 2-8. “All the credit in the world to them.”

Hannah Muchemore and Brianna Wilcox had 10 each for the Cards while Addison Smith added nine. “We had a nice run once we settled down a bit,” Kreick said of the second half run. “Carney kind of took over there for two or three minutes with her energy. … kind of got us into our game.”

But why is Kreick so concerned? Because the Cards have four tough out of state games in the coming weeks, beginning Saturday with Mercy High School of Middletown, Conn. And the big question is, can the Cards hold their own against those out of state teams playing the way they have lately?

“We’ll find out,” Kreick said. “Four out of state games in the next 18-19 days, and we’ll see.”

Maybe they’ll need to take a page out of North’s book and have no fear.

Newsletter