Pinkerton's Sydney Gerossie goes by Bishop Guertin's Maddie Long to the basket during the second half of Friday's game in Nashua. (Photoy by Joe Marchilena/nhhighschoolsports.com)

NASHUA — It was back to the regular grind, and as they found out, the grind isn’t always kind.

A week after winning the Hollis Brookline Christmas Invitational girls basketball tournament, the young Bishop Guertin Cardinals continued on with the regular season, falling to the Pinkerton Academy Astros 73-46 Friday night at the Colligadome.

Despite battling back in the first half and only down one score at the break, Pinkerton’s post scoring thrived with a two-headed monster from standout senior and two-time Division I all-state Elizabeth Lavioe, with a 21-point performance and 17 points from senior Alexandria White.

“It’s a nice X-factor,” said Pinkerton head coach Lani Buskey. “To have the presence of Liz [Lavoie] on the outside and the presence of Alex [White] on the inside. It’s a nice double whammy and hard to defend.”

White, who missed last season with an ACL injury, helped give Buskey a dynamic offense with four scorers in the double digits – sophomore Brooke Benz had 12 and junior point guard Sydney Gerossie added 10 — that topped 70 points for the third time this season.

While Pinkerton shot up to a 22-13 lead early in the second quarter, impressive three-point shooting from the Cardinals eclipsed the lead. Highlighting on the perimeter was freshman guard Holly Dufoe, finishing with 14 points and four three-point shots made. Dufoe swished two timely shots late in the second quarter to tie Pinkerton at 27 and went into the half down one score.

Come third quarter, Pinkerton kicked it into high gear, amassing 24 points by drawing fouls on contested looks and spacing the floor with ease. In the fourth, Lavoie took over, using crossovers, euro-steps, and every other tool in the bag to give the Pinkerton’s a comfortable double-digit lead.

With less than a minute left down 30 points, Bishop Guertin coach Olivia Orlando called a timeout.

“At halftime, we gave them their praises and told them how proud we were of them all,” said Orlando. “By the end of the game, I told them ‘You’re letting yourself be beat up by a team you competed with not even 20 minutes ago.’ Win or lose, fine, but that can’t be the performance regardless of the score.”

Both teams will play next Tuesday, as Pinkerton travels to take on a veteran Portsmouth roster while Bishop Guertin stays at home to take on Division II’s Concord Christian to look for their second win of the regular. season

Newsletter