Alvirne boys basketball starts each half fast, blows past Merrimack (video)

HUDSON - The Alvirne High School boys basketball was in need of a pep talk at halftime of Tuesday night's Division I season opener against Merrimack.

But instead of rushing into the locker room to talk to the Broncos, coach Marty Edwards let the players do the talking first, and followed it up with some words of his own.

Whatever was said, the message worked, as Alvirne opened the half with a 12-2 run and held the Tomahawks to just 18 points in the second half on the way to a 71-45 win.

The Broncos (1-0) got contributions from up and down the bench, led by Joe Canelas, who had a game-high 18 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Ryan West added 17 points, including four 3-pointers, and Cole Zimmerman was also in double figures with 11 points.

As a team, Alvirne hit eight 3-pointers, took a 23-9 lead after one quarter and outscored Merrimack (0-1) by 20 points in the second half.

"It feels really good, especially doing it against Merrimack, who is know for really good defense," Canelas said. "Last year, most of their games, (they allowed) 40 or 50 points. Coming out strong, putting up 71, I think it’s a real good way to start the season."

Alvirne also got a boost from Paul Manzi (nine points), Meshack Mugariri (seven) and Liam O'Neil (five).

"We have a bunch of guys who can score," Edwards said. "If you’ve got a bunch of guys scoring five or six points, that makes a big difference. Meshack had a great game, Cole had an outstanding game, Devante (Mckoy-Sophos) is great because he causes a lot of problems that you don’t see on the score sheet. He steals a lot of balls and he creates a lot of havoc."

Merrimack got 14 points from Patrick Yudkin and Jared Dyer added 13 points, but the Tomahawks struggled to slow down Alvirne while finding it hard to get into their offense in the second half.

"They shot really well," Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. "I knew they could shoot, but I thought defensively we were extremely poor. I thought we were a lot better than that and I’m disappointed. I knew we’d struggle offensively.

"We left (Canelas) and (Weston) open way too much. In this league, you have to be on those guys. I’m disappointed, not so much in our ability to hustle and play hard, but in our mental game. It’s not like we didn’t talk about what was going to happen, and I don’t think we handled it well as a team."

Alvirne hit four 3s in the first quarter and Weston was fouled on a 3-point attempt, making all three free throws, as a 10-2 run late in the quarter put the Broncos up 23-9 at the end of the frame.

The lead was still 14 points, 33-19, late in the second quarter, but Merrimack closed the half on an 8-0 run to get within six points at the break.

"If you go to sleep on them at all, they’re going to make you pay for it," Edwards said of Merrimack. "The kids knew at halftime they had to collect themselves and start sharing the ball and sharing responsibility on defense. They kicked up the intensity."

The teams opened the second half by trading baskets, but two 3-pointers by Weston, sandwiched around a pair of baskets by Mugariri, were part of a 12-2 run to start the third quarter. Weston's second 3 made it 45-29 and forced Merrimack to take a timeout.

"In the second quarter, we kind of lost our intensity on defense," Canelas said. "Then in the second half, we kept it going the whole half and I think that made the difference. We didn’t let up."

Goodridge told the Tomahawks that stretch was going to be the difference in the game.

"I told them the start of the third quarter is going to be the ball game," the coach said. "We’ve got to come out and make some defensive stops and we didn’t. They hit some big shots. Not to take anything away from them because they hit the shots, but they were pretty good looks."

Merrimack heads home for a Friday night meeting with Winnacunnet while Alvirne heads to Goffstown, also on Friday.