Telegraph photo by TOM KING Goffstown's Emily Peterson is sandwiched between Bishop Guertin's Meghan Stack, left, and Kailee McDonald in a fight for the ball during Friday night's regular season finale in Nashua.

NASHUA — Welcome to the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball laboratory, where the Cardinals continue to mix and match for the perfect concoction prior to the start of the Division I tournament.

That’s what the Cardinals seemed to be doing during Friday night’s 70-36 win over Goffstown at the Colligadome in the regular season finale for both teams.

Now the fun begins, with Guertin finishing the regular season 17-1.

“Turned out to be a pretty ugly experiment, didn’t it,” said Guertin coach Brad Kreick, who strives for perfection but is trying to get the younger half of his team enough experience to be tourney ready.

At times, Kreick had five freshmen on the floor, as the roster is senior heavy at one end and with freshmen talent at the other. Guertin led 19-4 after one, 43-20 at the half, and 52-22 during a third quarter that didn’t make the Cards coach too happy despite holding the Grizzlies to just two points.

“All year long, we’ve committed to giving those kids a lot of playing time, because we knew that going down the stretch into the tournament, we were going to play eight or nine or nine or 10. That’s just the way we do it.

“But we’re down to four seniors with Aria (O’Connell) getting hurt (in January, done for the year) that have played in that environment before. So we had to get kids ready. You saw that tonight. Our freshmen got huge minutes tonight, and it was our last opportunity to get them a run like that in a live game situation.”

Meghan Stack led that freshman group with 11 points, while senior mainstays Bri Wilcox (14) and Erin Carney (13) provided stability.

“I think it’s exciting,” Wilcox said of getting ready for the tournament with younger players. “I think this season was definitely different, a lot different than all the other seasons. It was a lot of learning and a lot of teaching, building another team up, a new team.

“They’re (the freshmen) the biggest piece to this program right now. Building them up helps us. We need them to kind of get on their stuff.”

Guertin was again without their fourth senior, guard Hannah Muchemore (leg injury). Muchemore now has a whole week to rest before the Cards host a quarterfinal, possibly against Concord or Salem, a week from tonight.

“I think she’ll be OK,” Kreick said. “We’re just trying to be careful with her. …Look, if we were playing a state championship game, she’d have been in the game. But we’ve got the luxury of being careful with her.”

Meanwhile, the Grizzilies, led by 19 points from Kelly Walsh, finished 12-6 and hope to be a tourney factor. But it’s still Guertin’s title to lose. Merrimack (16-2) likely grabbed the No. 2 seed after Manchester Central upset Manchester Memorial on Friday.

“The scary thing is they’re (the Cards) banged up right now,” Goffstown coach Steve Largy said. “We game planned for a team that was missing two starters.

“I like the way we fought. I’ve seen them play everyone else in the state and it’s been the same-ish result. But I like our fight, and if anyone can give them a game, we can. But we have to make everything.”

Kreick says the seniors are mixing and matching well with the younger players.

“The chemistry on this team is great,” he said. “We’re still working at it. … I loved (the regular season). We were 17-1 and a missed shot away from being undefeated in the regular season.”

And now the Cards hope youth will be served.

“We’ll find out in eight days,” Kreick said with a grin. “As chunky as (Friday) was, I think we’re playing our best right now.”

Scary thought, as sometimes experiments can produce.

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