BEDFORD, NH — Since falling to Memorial High in the final of the Queen City Invitational over Christmas recess, Bedford High has been a team on a mission.
The Bulldogs kicked off 2025 by trouncing Central (78-45) and Pinkerton (93-73). But the game they had circled in red was their rematch with Memorial on Friday.
The defending state champs wasted no time exacting their revenge, racing to a 42-27 halftime lead and crushing to an easy, 71-48 win.
”We didn’t show up. I think this was one of our worst performances of year,” said Memorial Head Coach Danny Bryson. “We just looked disorganized at times. It was pretty much the same game they had against us last time. We just didn’t execute tonight.”
Logan O’Connell scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the first half to lead Bedford (5-1). The junior guard carved up the Memorial defense, scoring on a variety of drives, from every angle imaginable.
Senior center Connor O’Rourke (16 points) and freshman forward Wiji Dak (13 points) dominated the paint for Bedford, combining for 27 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Christian Bilolo, battling illness, had another solid game for Memorial (3-3). The senior guard led the Crusaders with 18 points, to go along with seven rebounds and three steals.
Joel Gomez and Jake Ornelas added eight points each for the Crusaders.
Offensively, Memorial struggled mightily, shooting just 25 percent from the field and hitting just two three-pointers. The Crusaders scored just 39 points over the final 28:30.
”We weren’t getting into our offensive sets, we never got into a rhythm,” said Bryson. “The shots weren’t falling and then we were getting killed on the boards. We’ll take a look at the tape and get back to work.”
Bedford jumped out to an early lead, but Memorial was able to hang close behind the play of Bilolo. With the Crusaders’ trailing, 12-4, Bilolo drilled a three-pointer, then picked the pocket of Bedford guard Landon Ellsmore and sailed in for a dunk to cut the deficit to three.
But that was as close as Memorial would get. Bedford went on a 14-2 run, helping the Bulldogs to a 25-13 lead after one quarter.
Memorial tried to make a game of it. Gomez put back a rebound to pull the Crusaders to within nine (26-17) midway through the second quarter. But again, Bedford with a 9-3 run to build the lead back up to 15.