Bishop Guertin's Andre Steinbrueck, left, and Portsmouth's Derek Swarts battle for a loose ball during Monday night's Division I clash in Portsmouth. (Photo by Dan Doyon)

PORTSMOUTH – Coach Wil Horne couldn’t have asked for a better way for his Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team to start Monday night’s game against high-powered Portsmouth.

Fresh off last Friday’s 97-42 season-opening win over Concord, the Cardinals charged out to a 20-13 lead through the first quarter before Bishop Guertin found out exactly why Portsmouth is one of the favorites to win the Division I championship in March.

Portsmouth quickly erased its deficit by outscoring Bishop Guertin 22-6 in the second quarter on their way to an 81-54 victory inside Stone Gymnasium.

“We made some shots, we were in the game and it was a pretty physical battle early on,” Horn said. “I thought the refs took a little bit of physicality out of the game the last three quarters for sure and it changed everything. But we’ve got to make shots too.”

Bishop Guertin senior Connor McGowan scored 15 of his game-high 30 points in the first quarter. He was coming off a 34-point effort against Concord.

McGowan began heating up with a 3-pointer and he followed that with a couple of step-back jumpers. He closed the quarter in style by burying back-to-back 3-pointers to give BG the 20-13 lead entering the second quarter.

“Connor McGowan is one of the best players in the state and he showcased that again tonight,” Horne said.

Unfortunately for Bishop Guertin, has a number of options up-and down the roster, with nine players scoring on Monday. Guard Isaiah Reis opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and he went on to lead Portsmouth with 22 points while eclipsing the 1,000-point milestone.

Zavier Lampert came off the bench to drain back-to-back 3-pointers to give Portsmouth the lead for good, 27-24. After a Reis hoop, Ryan Swartz (14 points) powered his way to a pair of buckets to help give Portsmouth a 35-26 halftime lead.

“Our defense didn’t play that great in the first quarter. We had some lapses and lost McGowan and he is a really good player,” Portsmouth coach Jon Mulvey said. “There was a lot of excitement coming into this game, so we tightened up our defense a little bit and really started pounding the glass on the offensive boards, which I think changed the game for us.”

Portsmouth stretched its lead coming out of the locker room beginning with a pair of hoops from Derek Swartz (14 points) and a 3-pointer from Anthony Ferola that gave Portsmouth a 43-30 midway through the third quarter.

The Clippers carried a 53-43 lead into the fourth when they closed out the game with a 28-point fourth quarter.

BG’s Connor McGowan had a game high 30 points in Monday’s Cardinal loss at Portsmouth. (Photo by Dan Doyon)

“Portsmouth is a very good team, well-coached and every kid stepped up when their number was called and made shots,” Horne said. “Their fourth best player would be the best player on a lot of other teams.”

Horn is still confident that he team will be fine, it won’t get any easier when defending Division I champion Bedford comes to Nashua on Friday.

“We had tryouts two weeks ago, so we’re not going to hang our heads with winter losses right now,” Horne said. “I think we have the talent to play with anybody when we make shots and rebound. It’s a really good gauge to see where we’re at.”