Bishop Guertin Tops Nashua North In Granite State Challenge Quarterfinal

DURHAM, NH — Bishop Guertin High School came from behind to defeat Nashua North High School, 415-270, in the last quarterfinal game of the Granite State Challenge season.

Bishop Guertin, the Cardinals, was led by captain Mohid Khan, a 12th-grader. The team also included 12th graders Declan Pyles, Teddy Bond, and Aidan Coffey. Alternates were 10th-grader Grant Leonardi and 12th-grader Carter Rick. The team was coached by English teachers Katie Graham and Jeannette Riendeau.

Nashua North, the Titans, was captained by 12th-grader Ryan Mamos, with Daniel Morcos, Ethan Hobbs, and Benjamin Kelly on the roster and 11th-grader Marie Nalen as alternate. Social Studies teacher Timothy Bosch coached the team.

Nashua North opened with a strong start and built a 60-point lead in the first half of round one. By the end of the opening round, Bishop Guertin had recovered and taken a 105-90 lead. In the Three Strikes and You’re Out round, both teams used their passes and strikes before all 10 questions were read, but Bishop Guertin answered five correctly to Nashua North’s two.

In the 60-second round, the Titans answered seven questions correctly, and the Cardinals answered eight. That gave Bishop Guertin a 235-190 lead heading into the final round. The Cardinals then widened the margin and finished with a 145-point win.

“We did start off really slow, so we were a little bit worried,” Khan said, “but we really clutched up at the end and that helped us.”

Khan also credited a teammate’s speed on the buzzer: “I knew the team from North would be fast, but Teddy was really fast. He was able to answer a lot of questions before them and I think that was really the difference.”

Riendeau said, ”I'm very proud of how they rallied and came back.”

On the Nashua North side, Bosch said, “Part of me always wanted to see Nashua North and Nashua South make it all the way to the finals,” adding, “But it was great, both sides played well.”

Mamos said the appearance was memorable: “It's a good experience to look back on, you know. Every game, he (host Jon Cannon) gave us signed cards. Every time we dig those up we’ll just remember a good time.”

Next week, Nashua South High School and Profiled High School are scheduled to begin the semifinal round on at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, on NHPBS, with streaming also available on the PBS App, the NHPBS YouTube channel and at nhpbs.org/gsc.