Bishop Guertin's Thalia Drapeau (11) tries to block a shot by Bedford's Julia Laws during Frday night's game at the Colligadome. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – It certainly hasn’t been the best of starts for the Bishop Guertin High School girls basketball team.

The Cards are 0-3, having lost to Division I contenders Concord Christian, Londonderry, and Friday night the Bedford Bulldogs, 54-37, all at the Colligadome.

What do those three games have in common? The Cards haven’t gotten out of the 30s, with last night being a season high.

“We’re trying to build right now,” Guertin coach Olivia Orlando said. “It’s tough. We’re trying to find ways to put the ball in the hoop but the way we see it, the best way we can do that, is generating offense from our defense.”

And that defense was intense, with a great example the incredible scoreless stretch of nearly six minutes for both teams in the second quarter. But Bedford, which was without 6-1 junior Mel McCarthy, is one of those teams that can match and even surpass Guertin on defense. That’s why it was 25-11 at halftime and then 40-21 after three periods.

“They’re very talented, very fast, they have motors like I’ve never seen,” Orlando said of the two-time defending champion ‘Dogs. “They don’t get tired, very well conditioned, very well-disciplined and they;re just fundamentally sound. They don’t make silly mistakes, they’re very experienced and it shows.”

“Really, really proud of the grit our girls showed tonight,” Bedford coach Kevin Gibbs said. “I constantly forget what great shape our kids are in. These kids can go 32 (minutes) and go another half. … You saw the fruits of our labor.”

And saw some intense defense from both teams in that second quarter.

“Both teams really dug in,” Giggs said. “What I told the girls at halftime was the fact we only scored eight (in the quarter) and didn’t score anything until until two-and-half minutes to go was a testament to how well (BG) played on defense, but even more important the fact we only gave up three points in that quarter says more about the way we defend.”

Guertin would love to play the way the Bulldogs (2-0) play, pressing and running.

“If we can turn teams over, and push in transition, that will make our lives much easier than trying to run stuff out of a half court set,” Orlando said, “because we play some really talented defensive teams, Bedford being such a great example.”

Still, Guertin tried to hang in, and rallied to cut the gap to 42-30 with about five minutes left, but 3-pointers by Annie Zink and Sarah Muir built the Bulldog lead back up to 18. Muir led Bedford with 15 points.

A bright spot for BG was Olivia Baker’s 17 points, 12 in the second half, coming from the inside and the outside. Hailey McGowan added 10.

“Olivia Baker continues to just blow my mind,” Orlando said of the 6-1 senior who spent the fall swatting away soccer balls in the Guertin net. “She’s super talented, she works really hard, super coachable. And she’s doing her thing on the inside. We love to see it, we want to get buckets on the inside especially.”

One thing Guertin will take into account is they’ve started the season vs. three of last year’s four Final Four participants. And it doesn’t get any easier early next week at Wachusett (Mass.).

“The kids are working really hard and I do have to say we’re priding ourselves on the defensive end especially,” Orlando said. “So I’m super proud of the effort and work ethic. Not the result we wanted, but a lot of positives to take away from it.”