The Bedford, N.H. girls basketball team has been one of New England's most dominant programs since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bulldogs have logged four straight NHIAA Division 1 championship appearances and captured two titles, including an undefeated season in 2023-24.
That perfect run came behind one of the region's best frontcourt duos in Kate Allard and Lana McCarthy. McCarthy has graduated to Power Five hoops at Purdue, but Allard is back for her senior year and fresh off an Aug. 6 commitment to Boston University.
A 6-foot-2 forward, Allard landed on our summer Class of 2025 watch list because she is one of the most versatile talents around at her size. She can splash 3-pointers all around the arc, slash inside for layups and make smart decisions while posting up. She racked up a host of Division 1 offers from colleges including Seton Hall, Davidson and Yale, among others, while on the AAU circuit with the New England Crusaders.
Allard discussed the success she's had in high school and why she chose to stay at Bedford instead of transferring to a NEPSAC program. She also revealed some tips she learned in her recruiting journey and her basketball development.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Bedford went undefeated last year and won the state title, but you were favorites pretty much all season. What's challenging about going undefeated that you don't think people realize?
"I think it's hard because you always have a target on your back no matter what, throughout the whole season, because everyone wants to take you down if you're that top dog, that top team up there. So I would say our team had to overcome a lot of pressure and always having that target on our back. But also, because we kept beating everyone, we had to find ways to keep challenging ourselves and still grow as a team.
"So I know for our high school personally, we, instead of a goal of just getting, the win as a team, we set up mini-goals throughout the season. Like, we'd have to shoot 70 percent from the free throw line. We do a thing where we need a certain amount of 'kills' — three defensive stops in a row equals one — so we need a certain amount of those. Little things to help our team keep growing and challenging ourselves in games."
Was there a certain point in the season when you realized a perfect run was attainable?
"I think it's just a mindset going into things. I think we always just wanted to get the win. We weren't really focused on the possibility of losing, but more focused on getting the win instead. I think our team just switched our mindset a little bit to not really focus on the pressure or the potential that we could lose in the season, but more just to get better and get that W."
What is it like playing with a Big Ten-bound center in Lana McCarthy?
"So Lana is actually my best friend — so our two younger sisters (Ella Allard and Mel McCarthy) are besties, and then me and Lana became besties just from playing so many years with her. I always loved playing with her in high school because she was always the big everyone was super worried about, but she could also pass me the ball. So our favorite thing was when every time Lana got doubled, I would just shoot down the lane and she would just easily dump (the ball) for an easy two down low. That was our favorite. Or, my favorite pass, I always tell her if she's posting up, I just like lobbing it over the defense so that she just catches it high and turns and finishes. It was super fun with the high-low with her when she was in high school
"But it's so amazing playing with her. She's so talented, and I can't wait to see what she does at Purdue."
How important was your relationship in helping you both navigate your recruiting journeys?
"It was definitely helpful, especially because she's a year older than me, so she was a little bit further along in that process. So I would always ask her questions — like, all the time. Once June 1 (happened), she could talk back to colleges, and I'd be like, 'Oh, how much easier is that?' I would ask her questions all the time. Sometimes we'd have the same schools trying to recruit us, so we would talk about those schools and be like, 'Oh, how did your call go?'
"It was super helpful. We were both super supportive of each other going through that process, because it can be stressful or a lot at times, but it was just super helpful to go through it together and ask each other a lot of questions."
You got a lot of Division 1 interest, even up through this final spring and summer. Did you have any apps, tools or strategies for keeping track of everything?
"Throughout my whole process, I was super big on staying organized, because it can get you out of hand if you're not, honestly. So my biggest thing is that I would always set a calendar for the week of my call times, or who I was talking to for that week, because I think it's really important if you set up a call with someone, to not just blow them off or forget about it.
"I always made a calendar and mapped out when I was available for call times and to talk to schools. And then another thing I did was, I would just (with) pen and paper, write notes after each one of my calls, and I organized it by schools. If I had a call two years ago and I was still considering that school, I could look back at my notes of first impressions, or little things that I picked up on. If you're having so many calls, it's hard to remember like, oh, wait, what did that school say? So I'd say notes and saying organized was super helpful."
What was one question you made sure to ask every college that was in your final cluster of favorites?
"I was really focused on going to a really good academic school as well, in addition to basketball. So I was really strong on: Are you able to do specific majors around practice times? Because I think not all programs allow (it) — say you want to go pre med, not all Division 1 schools would allow that because your labs or whatever interfere with practice time, and basketball comes first. So I was really looking for a school that supported you both academically and athletically to where they're not limiting you — what you want to study and do after college."
Why BU over the many offers you had?
"The number one thing is that BU came in really early. They've always showed me so much support, and I've just loved the coaching staff, and they've always been a super competitive program in the Patriot League. So I definitely want to play for a program that was super competitive, but a school that wanted me pretty early on, and that they believed and supported me early on. They would always come to my games, I would talk to them regularly, the coaches were super personal, which I really appreciated. Some of the bigger schools, it's more like they kind of run it more of a business side of things. But BU really got to know me as a person and also recruited me. So I'd definitely say that, and then obviously, academics are super good at BU, so I was really considering that component there too.
You can score in so many different ways — not just places on the court, but in different actions and plays too. What helped you learn to process the game so quickly?
"I think it's the way you practice and the way you drill stuff. I really focus on different drills that force me to learn how to make those reads or going over a ton of options. I think Kara Leary, my AAU coach, was super good at implementing that in practice. So we would do a lot of drills where it's read and react. It's not super set, so you have to learn how to read the defense, what they're giving you, and base it on that. And then also, I train with Gold Standard Hoops and Chris Giordano. He's helped me a lot with making those reads and stuff. I did training with him with some of the guys. They did a live period prep program, so I got to play against guys who are a lot bigger and stronger than me. I think that was super helpful for making reads because they're a lot faster, so I think training with guys was also super helpful in that sense."
What goes into your shooting routine that has helped you become so dangerous, especially at your size?
"I would definitely say I'm big on repping fundamentals and then adding on top of it. So I definitely always start with form shooting, and then I get into shooting, but I always want to shoot on the move, not just standing around. We'll do a ton of cuts off of cones, whether that's a curl cut or a flare screen, just repping more live game actions rather than just standing and shooting around the horn, not doing anything. Then just adding moves on to that. So I'd say, start working with the basics, and then, branching out, adding more on-the-movement stuff to make it game-like."
(Allard later added that she wanted to credit Scott Prunier at Top Fitness for helping her with strength training and injury prevention as part of her development.)
A lot of top players in New England decide to go the NEPSAC route at some point. Why didn't you?
"My family, we definitely debated it for me. Even though Bedford was great and everything, we definitely debated it, because a lot of people do make that move. So we were like, oh, are we in the wrong? Is this gonna limit any opportunity? So we definitely debated it, but we honestly found that AAU gives you enough exposure, and I really wanted to have a normal high school experience with my friends (and) living with my family, because preps was kind of similar to college. Especially if you're boarding, you're away from your family. We definitely found that I was still getting looks from schools and colleges on the AAU circuit, so we thought high school wasn't as necessary for me personally."
You're also still a volleyball player even though basketball is what you'll take to the next level. Why is volleyball important to you?
"I think it's always fun to have a fun second sport. I think it's good for your body. You're training different muscles; you're not always working the same ones as basketball. I would say, the first week of volleyball when I flip it, I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so sore, just from the switch from volleyball. But I think it's also (about) having a second sport where you can honestly just go out there and have fun and not worry about it too much. I love basketball, I obviously, want to be the best in basketball. But volleyball, I call it just my fun sport. It's stress-free. It's just a different thing so you're not constantly playing that same game over and over again. It kind of gives yourself a little break, but you're still being super active, and you just get to meet a new circle of friends also. So I think it's super fun in that sense."
