Bedford boys basketball starts fast, pulls away late to beat Manchester Memorial

BEDFORD - The Bedford High School boys basketball saw its top scorers have a rough night shooting Friday against Manchester Memorial.

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, they've got plenty of options.

With Troy Meservey and Nolan Anderson struggling to get points against the Crusaders, Max Chartier and Liam Greene stepped up. The pair combined to score 34 points, including all but six in the first half, as Bedford pulled away late for a 53-46 win in Division I action.

Chartier finished 20 points and Greene had 14, including four 3-pointers, as the Bulldogs got out to a 12-0 start, withstood a Memorial rally, and ended the game on an 18-9 run to win their sixth in a row. Bedford also got 10 points from Meservey, all of which came in the second half.

"We were cold," Bedford coach Mark Elmendorf said. "Troy Meservey had a really tough night and we still came away with a win. He's our best shooter."

The Bulldogs (11-2) jumped out to the big lead in the first quarter, but Memorial (6-5) chipped away and briefly took the lead just before halftime, as just three players scored for Bedford in the first half.

"Max played great," Elmendorf said. "He's really developing his game. Liam hit some big shots and Nick (Mokas) came in and had huge points. We tell Nick to shoot all the time, but he likes to distribute and do other things. Those were big baskets in the beginning of the game."

Memorial got 21 points from Michael Roumraj, including five 3-pointers, as he kept the Crusaders in the game in the first half by himself. Jake Santiago added 12 points, making three 3-pointers, and Emmanuel Alisandro added eight points and played well on the boards, particularly when Anderson went to the bench with two fouls in the first half.

"They got to the rim on us a little more," Elmendorf said. "Ryan Porter came in and he's just not as quick as Nolan defensively."

But ultimately, the big deficit at the start of the game was too much to overcome. Bedford led 12-0 with 3:21 left in the first quarter and it was 12-1 until Roumraj hit a layup and then a 3 in the final minute of the frame.

Bedford went up 20-10 on a 3 by Mokas 2:23 into the second quarter, but Memorial went on a 13-2 run, taking its first lead, 23-22, on a 3 by Roumraj with 34.1 seconds left in the half. Greene answered with a 3 with 3.3 seconds left to put Bedford up 25-23 at the break.

"It takes it out of you to fight back like that," said Memorial assistant coach Mark Telge, who was filling in for Jack Quirk. "A team with poise can counterbalance that, figure out what you’re doing and make their run. That’s what they were, very poised. Well-coached and poised."

The lead changed hands four times in the third quarter and the game was tied three times as Bedford took a 35-33 advantage into the fourth. Memorial went up 37-35 with 5:55 to play, but a three-point play by Meservey gave the Bulldogs a 38-37 lead moments later.

That started Bedford on an 8-2 run that gave the Bulldogs the lead for good, as they went 6 for 9 from the free throw line down the stretch.