Bedford snaps Souhegan’s streak

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Staff photo by GRANT MORRIS
Souhegan's Jane White is collapsed on by members of the Bedford defense during Tuesday evening's game at Bedford.

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BEDFORD – Seeing a long winning streak end in March can be devastating. When it happens in the season opener, like it did to the Souhegan High School girls Tuesday night in a 45-37 loss to Bedford, it can be instructive.

The loss was the first in nearly two years for the Sabers, who went 22-0 last season and won the Division II title. But any way you slice it, this was a great start for a young and talented Bedford team.

“We know what we have to do better,” Souhegan coach Jeremy Faulkner said. “The girls talked about it after the game.

“Bedford is good. They are going to be a powerhouse in the next couple of years. But we’re a veteran team and we played nervous tonight, at times.”

It was the varsity coaching debut for Bedford’s Sue Thomas.

“They (Souhegan) are a phenomenal team and we have to play them again,” Thomas said. “They had a lot on their shoulders being undefeated last year. We had a lot on our shoulders being the up-and-coming team.”

A key to any win against Souhegan is controlling the Sabers’ standout point guard Jane White, and the Bulldogs did a pretty good job, holding her to 14 points.

“We put our quickest defenders on her,” Thomas said. “We tried to force her to her left. And we always had another player ready to double her.”

Ashley Abad, Bailey Marshall and Ali Glennon all took turns on White, and kept her from taking over the game.

The Bulldogs started four sophomores and one junior and seemed to be in control, however tenuous, for most of the night.

Bedford led 12-6 after a first quarter in which the Sabers hit just 3 of 14 field goal attempts. Souhegan bounced back to score the first nine points of the second quarter, including 3-pointers by both White and Ceara McNamara to take a 15-12 lead, but Bedford closed out the half with an 8-2 run to grab a 20-17 halftime lead.

McKenzie Brown, the Bulldogs 6-foot-1 sophomore center, led Bedford in the first half with six points and seven rebounds and was the only Bedford player in double figures at the end with 11.

Haley Driscoll, a 5-11 sophomore, added eight points and 10 rebounds as the Bulldogs dominated the glass at times, especially in the first quarter.

White had seven points at halftime, but she also had three fouls, and she picked up her fourth on a charge in the final second of the third quarter. Bedford led 31-25 after three, taking its first six-point lead on a 3-pointer by Ashley Abad.

Bedford would take its biggest lead of the night, 35-25, early in the fourth quarter on basket by Maggie McGowen, who had six points off the bench.

When Souhegan quickly closed to 35-30 on White’s second 3-pointer of the game, Abad (eight points) hit her second 3-pointer to get the lead back to eight.

“I thought we played with a lot of poise for a young team,” Thomas said. “During timeouts, they were giving me advice.”

Ceara McNamara had eight points and Ashley Tighe and Cammie Formby-Lavertu added six each for Souhegan.

“We found out tonight we’re not unbeatable,” Faulkner said. “But this is all very fixable.”