On Tuesday night, Bishop Brady took a short bus ride to play crosstown rival Merrimack Valley in a Division II basketball doubleheader. The Pride claimed two big wins at home to start 2025 positively.

Both Giants teams were underdogs going into the contests as the Pride started their seasons strong. Moreover, the Giants are relatively young and still smoothing out some details on both ends of the court, but they showed flashes of promise against tough opposition.

Boys: MV 69, Brady 37

The Pride started the game scorching hot, defensively and offensively. Senior guard Brady Smith looked like he could not miss and scored 13 points out of the gate, hitting three big 3-pointers. The Pride took a commanding 25-point lead after the first and did not let it slip an inch.

“We’re feeling good. I feel like we have a good shot at the ’ship this year as long as we keep this momentum on defense. I feel like we should be fine,” Smith said.

Senior center Boston Bradicich also came up clutch for the Pride to keep that lead. In the third quarter, he elevated for a block to create a fast-break opportunity that then saw him hit a three on the offensive end to match Smith’s point total. Smith and Bradicich ended with 19 points and a win for their teams.

“A lot of it’s just the energy in the court. Big thanks to our student section, keeping us up the whole time, really bringing the energy, the crowd pops and all that when we hit the threes, and it just felt good getting the block,” said Bradicich. “The crowd going crazy bench going crazy and then coming down, hitting that three, felt really good.”

Bishop Brady (0-5) improved quarter over quarter throughout the game and kept its heads up, but the deficit was too tall to cut down. Junior forward Casey Ryan led his team with 16 points, but the Giants struggled against the Pride’s solid defense inside and on the perimeter.

“They’re still learning a new coach with them, a new voice that they’re hearing from me every game. My goal is to get better every night so we’re playing our best ball in February. 4-0, I’ll take it moving on to Milford, Friday night. Gotta go after them the next two days in practice, and then we’re hosting Milford, hopefully, it’ll be 5-0 after that,” new MV coach Kelly O’Brien said.

Girls: MV 55, Brady 24

The Pride must have received very powerful pre-game motivational speeches because the girls also came out of the gate hot to outscore the Giants, 18-3, in the first quarter en route to the win. Coach Bob McNutt is content with how his team has started this season and looks to keep tweaking small imperfections to get his team ready to make a big push in the playoffs.

“We had a couple of turnovers; we gave up some offensive rebounds. If we shoot a little bit better, I think that the sky’s the limit for this team. We got to finish a little bit more around the rim, we got to hit some free throws, and if we can put all that together, we’re going to be a tough out,” he said.

Senior forward Kayla Smith had a huge performance, scoring 22 points and hauling in 17 rebounds for MV (3-1). She faced some tough opposition in the paint, and despite the Giants (1-4) getting big blocks on some of her shots, she did not waver and continued to perform.

“I feel like we worked well offensively, and I felt like I was getting to the rack more. We definitely could have done the outside shooting, but overall we did good,” Smith said. “I think we’re ready for what the rest of the season can bring, we’re really excited, and we’re hungry for a stronger push into the playoffs.”

The Giants, coached by Steve Aubertine, have a team composed of mostly freshmen. Bishop Brady’s two seniors, guard Payton Bryson and forward Claire Jackson, led the charge to come back but were stifled by the Pride’s full-court press and two-on-one defense inside.

Jackson’s 12 points led the team, while Bryson had five but was held back after accumulating four fouls before halftime.

“Offensively, we’re working to get more help for those two underneath; we do a lot of inside-out game. We’re trying to get a lot of pick-and-rolls. We’re trying to get the other younger kids involved. They’re not ready to make that next move, like to take the shot; they are more worried about passing,” said Aubertine. “We just gotta learn patience. We’ll get the ball. We gotta think a step or two ahead and we got to see the court. Got to be able to move the ball up and down the court. I think our press breaker was there.”

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com.