They were supposed to play a year ago, remember?

Well, now it will happen. A year ago today, the NHIAA postponed the Division I girls basketball semifinal between Bedford and Bishop Guertin with the idea of perhaps playing it the next day, a Friday.

It never got played. Another postponement Friday, and then the following Monday came the announcement the tournaments were shut down. The highest two remaining seeds in the girls and boys tourneys were declared co-champions; in Division I girls it was BG and Goffstown.

“It’s a shame we weren’t able to have the thing decided on the floor last year,” Guertin girls hoop coach Brad Kreick said. “I feel for that group of 2020 kids (the seniors). They were trying to do something really special, winning a fourth straight. That’s always going to sting a little bit.”

But at least the Cards and Bulldogs, thanks to semifinal wins Thursday, will get a postseason meeting in a rivalry that compares to the old Nashua-Londonderry rivalry of the 1980s and into the ’90s. And they’ve had a season.

“Yeah, we got 18 games in, and we’re really grateful to play a 19th,” Kreick said. “I know (Bedford) Coach (Kevin) Gibbs feels the same way about his kids.

“It’s funny how things worked out.”

Concord topped Bishop Guertin in Wednesday night’s semis at JFK, which a year ago was the last live sporting event of the school year. The Tide last year won their semi and were set to play Bedford in the finals that Saturday before the plug got pulled. This year, Bedford lost in the semis and Concord will play Salem Saturday night at JFK.

“We’re playing,” a confident Concord coach Duncan Walsh said. “Last year we didn’t play. That was our goal all year to get to the final day, and last year we didn’t get the opportunity, and now we do. We get the opportunity.”

There are a lot of feelings about this time of year. Teams that have lost in the tournament have that sad feeling – you could see it when the Merrimack hockey players who had been together for the better part of three seasons saw all things Tomahawks hockey end — for good for the seniors. And Wednesday night eight Cardinals played their last game.

But when Cards coach Gary Bishop gathered them in the locker room after their 4-1 loss to the Tide, his message was clear. It was not a lost season, because it was a season.

“That’s what I just got through telling them,” Bishop said. “Fourteen games regular (season), and three playoffs. We played 15 games. Got to be happy with that.”

Hopefully, in the next 24 hours, there will be no surprises. We will get to the winter season finish line.

For Guertin and Bedford, it will be a special meeting on Sunday at Sanborn Regional in Kingston. Last year the Cards would have been the favorite; this year, it’s a pick ’em. And things will be decided the right way.

“It’s funny,” Kreick said, “how things work out.”

A year later, we appreciate anything that works out, period.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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