Arisa Saijit keeps her eye on the ball as readies a return during Tuesday's Division I tourney prelim win over Salem at BG. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA — Bishop Guertin High School girls tennis coach Marcel Gamache gathered his players Monday and asked them to give him more of a competitive spirit.

He got that on Tuesday, as the No. 6 Cardinals won five of six matches vs. No. 11 Salem before the storm arrived to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“They responded really well,” Gamache said. “They played within their potential. They didn’t play out of their potential and hitting the ball all over the place. They’re not making many errors, getting the ball back in play and no free points.”

Guertin will now advance to face No. 3 Dover.

“We played consistent,” Gamache said. “We just played within ourselves and didn’t try to do too much. The girls played awesome, they stayed within themselves, they played their points and played their targets. It was great.”

Gamache liked a couple of moments. The Cards’ No. 2 doubles team of Joclyn Kriscuinas and Lidya Miller got the clinching win, 8-0, over Salem’s Jovanna Flaherty/Juno Batataglia.

Sophia Sears fell at No. 1 singles to the Blue Devils’ Mia Contarino, 8-2, but BG took the next four singles matches, as Sofia Zielinski (8-4), Kriscuinas (8-1) Miller (8-0) and Ina Kemme (8-0) all triumphed. Miller closed out her win with a match.

“Finishing strong, I love it,” Gamache said, his team now 11-4. “If we play like this all the way through, I don’t care how it comes out, we’re going to play well. Everybody else has to come up and try to beat us.”

NORTH-CENTRAL MATCH HALTED

The No. 9 Titans’ Division I prelim with No. 8 Manchester Central had problems from the start. It started late due to North being caught in construction traffic, was stopped due to the afternoon storm, with Central having gotten two singles wins for a 3-2 lead while North was leading in two other matches.

The teams will resume play today at 3 p.m. in Manchester.

Here’s a look at the rest of Tuesday’s action:

SOFTBALL

NASHUA SOUTH 9, TRINITY 2

The Panthers got their third win of the season as Jill Daley didn’t allow an earned run over seven innings, striking out four and walking one, while her team supported her with 12 hits

Brooke Berger led South with three RBIs, going 2 for 4. Emily Richard had three hits, while Morgan Gillis and Daley each collected multiple hits.

Now 3-13, South hosts Timberlane today.

WINDHAM 6, BISHOP GUERTIN 5

The Cards’ three-game winning streak came to a halt despite homers by Meara McDevitt and Bella Nutting, part of a 10-hit Cardinal attack.

Chloe Sellers and Michaella Bowen both had two hits, while Jenny Davey pitched 4.2 innings, while Bowen finished with scoreless relief.

Guertin finishes the regular season at 10-8, and will now wait until early next week to see who and where they will play in the Division I tourney’s first round.

LONDONDERRY 8, MERRIMACK 2

The ‘Hawks fell to 9-7 as they were outhit 11-3 and Lancer starter Erin Kearney was dominant with 16 strikeouts. Avery Hui, Katie Coolidge and Hayden Stuart all had hits for Merrimack, which travels to Keene today.

BOYS LACROSSE

BISHOP GUERTIN 8, ACTON-BOXBORO (Mass.) 7

Guertin’s Sean McGarry scored with 53.9 seconds left in overtime as the Cards won their 12th straight.

Acton-Boxboro sent the game to OT with a goal with 32.5 seconds left.

BG trailed 3-2 at the half and the game was 4-4 going into the final quarter. Cam Hayden had three goals while Caleb Yeun g had a pair and Beau Dubois, and Hudson Schmitt each had one.

Will Murphy had 15 saves in goal for the Cardinals, who are 14-2 and face Nashua North at Stellos Stadium today.

ALVIRNE 17, PEMBROKE 8

The Broncos improved to 10-6 as Jon Santanna had eight goals and two assists, while Cedrik Beaulieu had three goals and five assists.

Ryan Tobin, Chris Darbe, and Preston Ball each had a goal while Brandon Lavarnway (two goals, two assists), Brody Orr (two assists) and Ryan Hurrell (assist) also contributed. Ayden Kelly had nine saves for Alvirne, which wraps up the regular season at Winnacunnet on Friday.

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