Big fourth quarter helps Bishop Guertin boys basketball pull away from Merrimack (video)

MERRIMACK - The Bishop Guertin High School boys basketball team averaged almost 80 points a game during its five-game winning streak.

Midway through the third quarter Thursday night against Merrimack, it looked like the Cardinals might be lucky to get half that.

After going scoreless for almost eight minutes, Bishop Guertin's offense woke up late in the third quarter, scoring 40 points in the final 10-plus minutes of the game to pull away from the Tomahawks for a 62-39 win in a Division I contest.

The Cardinals led 22-13 at halftime, and after Merrimack's Jenson Monroe hit a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, it was a six-point game for more than four minutes, as both teams struggled offensively.

"I don’t think the possessions were bad, I don’t think the shots were bad," Bishop Guertin coach John Fisher said of the game. "Sometimes, they just don’t go in. I go back to crediting Merrimack’s defense, not to anything we were doing crazy. If I thought something nutty was going on out there, we’re taking a timeout early."

Luke Anderson led the way for Bishop Guertin (11-3) with 17 points, including two 3-pointers, while Javari Ellison added nine points and Tyler Mackey, Matt Santosuosso and Spencer Matarazzo had six points apiece. Ten players scored for the Cardinals, who put up 30 points in the fourth quarter.

Merrimack (5-7) got 15 points from Jackson Rosa, but no one else came close to scoring in double figures, as David Roy, Isaac Ynfante and Michael Flerra each added four points. After alternating wins and losses through the first nine games of the season, the Tomahawks have dropped three in a row.

"We were passing up open shots and we just weren’t doing things that we normally do," Merrimack coach Austin Denton said. "It’s frustrating right now. The score was 22-13 at halftime. I said to the guys, you’ve scored 13 points and you’re in the game. It’s definitely tough, it’s frustrating, but we’ve got to get back at it."

The start was rough for both teams, as the Cardinals led 9-0 more than four minutes into the game. Rosa put the Tomahawks on the board with 3:27 left in the first quarter and Bishop Guertin led 13-5 at the end of one.

The Cardinals went up 10 points early in the second, but after Matarazzo scored to give his side a 19-11 lead with 4:20 left in the half, Bishop Guertin started to go cold, from the field and at the line, shooting 3 of 8 for the half.

But the Tomahawks weren't any better, as they scored just two points the rest of the half and were 3 of 12 at the line.

Monroe's 3-pointer early in the third quarter made it 22-16, but that's where it stood for more four minutes. Anderson finally snapped the scoreless streak for the Cardinals with a 3-pointer with 2:39 left in the third.

Ellison added a putback after a Merrimack turnover and Rosa answered with a three-point play to make it 27-19, but that was as close as the Tomahawks would get. Bishop Guertin went on a 12-2 run that gave it a 39-21 lead just 1:15 into the fourth quarter.

"They hit a couple of big shots and that put us down," Denton said. "That was kind of the end of it. We can still win the game, we can win 26-22 if you don’t let them score. I thought we did a good job of that early on (in the third quarter), but the problem was we weren’t scoring either. It was a rough game all around."