Late surge lifts St. B’s over G-D

Bernardians close game on 20-0 run

FITCHBURG » if tuesday night was any indication, the st. bernard’s boys’ basketball team is going to be fun to watch this winter season.

with the groton-dunstable regional in town to kick off the 2021 season, st. bernard’s rallied from a fourth quarter deficit to secure a 59-48 victory inside the st. bernard’s activity center.

pacing the winners was connor smith with a game-high 18 points. teammates pat ginnity and andrew gardiner also finished in double figures as each chipped in with 13 points.

g-d was led by kyle plausse’s 15 points, while teammate chris smith tossed in nine points.

“we are pleased with the win against a quality program in groton-dunstable,” said bernardians head coach paul constantino. “we didn’t know what to expect coming in because we haven’t had a chance to scrimmage. we knew groton-dunstable was going to be a challenge for us tonight and they were. i was really pleased with our energy. it was better than i thought it would be.”

trailing by nine points early in the fourth quarter, 48-39 following a bucket groton-dunstable’s jack barry with 7:17 left, the bernardians held their guests scoreless the rest of the contest, ending the game on a 20- 0 run.

“i thought our defense was great tonight. i thought we were intense all game and we worked really hard and moved the basketball really well,” smith said. “i think we played like a motivated team. we ended the game on a strong run and got the win.”

st. bernard’s (1- 0) let a 32-28 halftime lead slip away in the third quarter as the crusaders outscored the hosts 18-7 in the stanza to grab a 46-39 entering the final eight minutes of action.

“basketball is a game of runs as people know,” said constantino. “they went up seven on us going into that fourth quarter and connor gets his fourth foul and things are starting to look bleak but we showed great hustle on both ends of the floor. groton got some good looks in the fourth quarter but fortunately for us they got cold.”

early on, this contest was a back-and-forth affair. the crusaders opened a quick 7-3 lead before the bernardians respond

ed with a lighting fast 12-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Brandon Gibbons (six points)

and Gardiner to take a 15-9 lead. St. Bernard’s enjoyed an 18-15 lead after one quarter.

During the second quarter the hosts went on the attack opening their lead to double figures following a hoop by Damien Jones (four points) with three minutes left. Jones’ bucket, a pull up jumper inside the key, gave St. Ber

nard’s a 28-17 lead at the time.

Groton- Dunstable ( 0-1) chipped away over the final three minutes of the half, scoring 11 of the final 15 points of the stanza as the Crusaders remained within striking distance going into the abbreviated halftime break, 32-28.