Alvirne boys basketball overcomes slow start to beat Merrimack

MERRIMACK - After four scoreless minutes to open the contest, the Merrimack High School boys basketball team scored the game’s first bucket to take the first lead.

Alvirne tied it 20 seconds later, scored the next two buckets, and rolled past the Tomahawks 55-40 to pick up a sweep over the two games played this week. Alvirne led by at least 10 points for the final 21:30 of the game.

The Broncos led by eight after a quarter and outscored Merrimack 17-5 in the second to open a 20-point lead at halftime and rolled the rest of the way.

“We were moving the ball, playing tough defense, talking, communicating. Merrimack did a very nice job of pressing,” Alvirne coach Marty Edwards said. “It was a good drill for us, getting us back into our game, doing the things that make us successful. That was a good test for us.”

The statistical difference was staggering in the first half. Alvirne shot 3 of 5 from 3, while the Tomahawks missed all five of their attempts from beyond the arc. The Broncos pulled down 17 rebounds to just nine by Merrimack (1-2), and Alvirne blocked five shots.

Alvirne (2-1) finished the game with a 32-20 rebounding advantage.

Junior center Brendan Graham led the way on the outside with four blocks and five rebounds in the opening 16 minutes along with four points. He would finish with eight points, eight rebounds, four blocks, and three assists.

“It’s great because if people drive the lane, we have someone that can take away that shot,” Edwards said of Graham. “Once he starts getting into his flow he’s going to be very good. He missed some layups (Friday). As soon as we get that down, he’s going to be a really dangerous player.”

Alvirne got production across the lineup. Senior guard Jacob Hibbard led the way with 19 points, including a couple of key shots in the second half to stop Merrimack rallies before they could really get going.

Hibbard’s two biggest shots came in the fourth quarter. After Merrimack switched to a press defense, the Tomahawks chipped away at the deficit and hassled the Broncos.

Hibbard’s bucket 16 seconds into the period stopped a 7-1 Tomahawk run and his bucket with 4:39 left in the game came on the heels of a Merrimack 3 that cut the gap to 11. Merrimack would never get that close again.

“Jake made some big shots tonight,” Edwards said of Hibbard. “He was in the zone (Friday). We needed him. That opened up the defense a little bit for us.”

Liam O’Neil had 11 points, and Charlie Thomas chipped in eight of his own.

Merrimack played hard but couldn’t get the offense going consistently enough to claw back. Jack Tarleton had a 12-point, six-rebound performance for the Tomahawks, and Kobe Pimentel added seven points off the bench.