Bishop Guertin's Eli Youssef controls the ball near the Goffstown hoop while Goffstown players Micah Brooks (0) and Liam O'Brien (13) defend. (Photo by Dan Attorri

NASHUA — The Cardinals of Bishop Guertin High School entered Friday night’s game knowing they could do well against Goffstown’s zone if they could get their shots to fall. Their shots fell early and often.

Senior Eli Youssef scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, the Cardinals made 10 shots from 3-point range, and they controlled the boards as the Bishop Guertin boys’ basketball team extended its win streak to nine games with a 76-43 victory over the Goffstown Grizzlies.

Youssef scored 15 points and made three 3-pointers in the first quarter to give BG a 19-16 lead through the first quarter, and fellow senior forward Sam Woodward scored all eight of his points in the second frame as the Cardinals exploded offensively to take a 41-23 halftime lead.

Youssef finished the game with 22 points and four shots made from 3-point land. He now has more than 800 points in his career.

“He’s somebody that has consistently done it here since he’s been a varsity player his freshman year,” Bishop Guertin head coach Will Horne said. “He had a big night tonight. We love to play it inside out and run it in transition. We’re a good shooting team, but we don’t love to rely on that. Ten 3s is great for us, especially against the zone, trying to open it up. We have a lot of confidence in our guys and Eli came out on fire to get us going.”

Senior guard Connor McGowan scored 20 points, all in the middle quarters, and senior forward Joshua Corriveau (10 points) also reached double figures.

In addition to getting shots to fall, Youssef was equally impressive and dominant inside, while Woodward had several rebounds and steals. Horne also credited his bench players for grabbing key rebounds in the third quarter as his team started to pull away.

“I think everyone is going to be in (the book) with a couple of rebounds,” Horne said. “(Goffstown) plays incredibly hard and they’ve gotten a lot of second- and third-chance opportunities this year, so we knew that was key, taking it away. We did a great job with that today.”

“For me, if I see the ball get through the hoop it’s going to be a good game for me,” Youssef added, “but I always try to do the little things, rebound, block shots, protect the paint. … Getting the little wins is important to getting going.”

McGowan scored 11 third-quarter points, his teammates played lock down defense, and the Cardinals dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Grizzlies 23-10 over those eight minutes to lead 64-33 heading into the fourth.

BG led by as many as 38 points in the final frame and drained three more treys for good measure to close out the victory.

Senior guards Liam O’Brien (12 points) and Tyler Dionne (eight points) led Goffstown.

The Cardinals (11-3) now sit in a tie for third place in the Division I standings with Pinkerton. Their next game is a big one, a game at local rival Nashua South (6-6) in the Belanger Gym on Tuesday night.

The Cardinals’ depth and balance has been crucial in this stretch.

“They play really well together,” Horne said. “We’re confident we can get different guys in the mix. We have a really tight lineup of kids that can all do different things. We feel really confident moving forward as we get closer to the playoffs that we can get some different looks and lineups that will really help our team.”

“Honestly, our team is super close,” Youssef said. “We’re all brothers. We’re all competing, trying to take each other’s spots. We’re all trying to get better. That’s a recipe for success.”