Big fourth quarter lifts Manchester Memorial girls basketball past Manchester Central in D1 playoffs

MANCHESTER - In a playoff battle between crosstown rivals, the Manchester Memorial High School girls basketball team was able to defeat its rival Manchester Central 57-44 in the Division I quarterfinals on Saturday.

After two games earlier in the season, one in which No. 3 Memorial won on a last-second buzzard beater and another where the Crusaders almost blew a 22 point lead, it was a surprisingly comfortable win for Memorial, which trailed heading into the fourth quarter.

"We want to get up and down the court," Memorial coach Greg Cotreau said. "If you seem a game in the 60s that is good for us. If you seem a game in the 30s that is good for them."

The game in fact started off well for No. 6 Central (12-8), which had a very balanced scoring attack, giving the Little Green a 22-21 advantage at halftime and a 36-34 lead after three.

The turning point for Memorial (16-3) came from key bench player Lyric Grumblatt, who scored all 18 of her points on the second half, included four 3-point baskets, three of them in the fourth quarter.

Along with hot shooting, Memorial also benefited from aggressive takes to the basket by senior Haleigh Shea, who finished with a game-high 21 points. At one moment in the second half, Memorial had a 7-0 foul advantage. That allowed the Crusaders to be shooting free throws a majority of the second half and to expand their lead.

"They got to dictate their pace," Central coach Mike Wenners said. "We want to keep scoring low, but when they start hitting outside shots, and we had to shorten our rotation and give some girls extra minutes. There were some tired legs."

Those tired Central legs led to a 23-8 fourth-quarter scoring advantage for Memorial. Central was led by, Keltina Francis who had 10 points, and Shae Rix added nine.

"I am really proud of how our seniors finished out the final game on our home court," Cotreau said. "It is really hard to beat a team three times."

Memorial moves on to Thursday's semifinal at Southern New Hampshire University, where the Crusaders will face No. 2 Pinkerton.