Bishop Guertin's Olivia Murray puts up a shot against Nashua North's Olivia Mazerolle during the Cards' Division I quarterfinal win Sunday at the Colligadome. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA — They can beat you in all sorts of different ways.

But when the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team starts hitting shots consistently from the outside, you just have that helpless feeling.

And that’s how the Nashua North Titans had to feel during Sunday’s 70-25 Cardinals Divison I quarterfinal win at the Colligdome. Guertin made seven 3 pointers, and that was just one of the ingredients that helped carry the Cards (16-0) to Thursday’s semifinals vs. Londonderry at 7 p.m. at Sanborn Regional.

“We’ve got some kids that can shoot the ball,” Guertin coach Brad Kreick said. “I think last year’s team was probably a better shooting team, top to bottom, but these kids really work at it, and we’ve got a number of kids who can really shoot the ball.”

“When they start hitting at the outside, at that rate, there’s really not much we can do,” Titans coach Curt Dutilley said. “We don’t have that scoring capacity.”

But what North did have was towering senior center Tori Conrad, who led the Titans with 11 points and whose presence inside forced BG to shoot from the outside, resulting in a tighter than perhaps expected 15-12 first quarter edge for the Cards.

But yikes, that second quarter. Guertin outscored 4-8 North by a whopping 28-2 margin, much of the time with Conrad getting a breather, and it was over. It was an even more dominant performance than the Cards’ first quarter (15-2) the other night vs. Nashua South.

“They weren’t going to let us get anything in the paint, and they’ve got a 6-3 kid who is tough to go downhill on,” Kreick said. “It took us a little while to get going, which is not uncommon for us, but we had a really good second quarter.

“We held them to two in the second quarter, we’ll take that. We started making some shots, and different kids made some shots, too. That was good to see.”

Guertin had three players in double figures – Liv Murray (15 points), Brooke Paquette (12) and Kailee McDonald. Not only did they score from the outside, but the Cards were even 13 of 15 from the line.

But oh, that second eight minutes.

“Honestly, we only had a few hours to get ready,” Dutilley said. “So what happened was, an hour before we got here, we worked on what we wanted to do in the first quarter. But without enough repetition, and it does start to deteriorate, you can’t adjust.

“But really, what happened in second quarter was the three fouls on Lily Brooks in the first quarter. That was a killer. You need all your ball handlers against this team.”

Seniors Conrad, Brooks, Kaitlyn Laurendi and Samantha Canto will be missed by the Titans, who look forward to hopefully a more normal off-season and season ahead. Meanwhile, it’s off to Kingston for the Cards.

“The deal we’ve always made with our kids is ‘If you guys defend, and you guys run, we’re going to let you play offensively.'”

Yesterday they held their end of the deal and then some.

Newsletter