Bishop Guertin's Jas Rosario goes up for a layup as Windham's Saskya Clark can only watch during Friday night's game at the Colligadome. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – They’re young, they were facing a must-win game, and were trailing 20-9 in the second quarter on Friday night.

How did the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team react?

“Stops and scores,” Guertin coach Olivia Orlando said after her Cards grabbed a 43-39 win over Windham at the Colligadome that should very likely qualify them — unofficially, that is — for the Division I tournament. “One possession at a time, that was our focus and it worked out for us. … I believe in the girls so much, sometimes more than they believe in themselves. … That (win) was huge for us, for sure,”

Still, the Jags, who finish the regular season at 11-7, have to feel this was a game they should have won based on the first 11 or 12 minutes.

“I’ve watched enough game films of Bishop Guertin to know what they were capable of,” Windham coach Cassi Turcotte said. “And it could have been we just relaxed for a moment. Basketball’s a game of runs, and when they had their first run, that’s when we started getting a little panicked. … We started forcing shots, forcing passes.”

The Cardinals had turned things around to the point they had a 40-30 lead with six minutes to play, but then went scoreless for five minutes. Windham was only able to get six points during that span, but it took a Holly Dufoe big 3-pointer with 43 seconds left to give BG some level of comfort. As Orlando said, in close games, “we start playing a little timid, we play not to lose rather than play to win win. So the message was regardless of how close a game is, we’re playing to win.”

And win they did, thanks to 13 points by Thalia Drapeau and nine from Dufoe. Plus their defense the held the Jags to 16 points over the game’s final 21:37. Windham got 12 points from Meghan Husson and 10 by Lilah Boucher.

Guertin used a 13-0 run to take a 22-20 lead but trailed 28-25 at the half. Then in 12-2 third quarter, Windham failed to get a field goal and a Jas Rosario layup put the Cards up 37-30 going into the final quarter.

They got a 3-pointer by Ayla Regan to start to go up 10, and then hung on until Dufoe nailed her trey.

“She brings such an incredible spark,” Orlando said of the freshman. “Even on nights she’s not shooting as well as she’d like, she affects the game in so many areas. Defensively she’s a huge spark for us. … She’s a natural born leader, even as a young freshman. I’m excited for what the future holds.

“We had a wide open 3. Holly knows she can knock that down, we know she can knock that down, and she did it. Ice in her veins.”

Perhaps as close as a week ago, it didn’t look good for the Cards. But then they grabbed a big win at Exeter on Wednesday. They are 8-9 but may be forced to take a forfeit vs Wachusett in a game that was scheduled but not played due to confusion between the two schools. Even at 8-10, it’s very possible that their rating vs. tourney teams like Windham and Exeter is likely their biggest asset when it comes to tiebreakers that also ought to put Nashua North and South, both 8-10, in. In any event, we’ll all find out Monday how it officially shakes out.

“That was one of our goals, we wanted to make the tournament, we wanted to have that run,” Orlando said. “We’re still young. We were counted out pretty early. I’m exceptionally proud of the way these girls have continued to fight and work. I’m excited for what the next week or so will hold.”

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