> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Cummings leads Merrimack boys basketball to win over Bishop Guertin (video)
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/cummings-leads-merrimack-boys-basketball-win-bishop-guertin-video/
- Published: 2018-01-10T15:51:04.000Z
- Updated: 2018-01-10T15:51:04.000Z
- Description: NASHUA - The Merrimack High School boys basketball team has come to expect, and maybe even needs, an all-state performance every game from Ian Cummings. The Tomahawks certainly got one from the senior against Bishop Guertin on Tuesday. Cummings led Merrimack on both ends of the floor as the Tomahawk
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division I, Bishop Guertin, boys basketball, Merrimack, slider, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

NASHUA - The Merrimack High School boys basketball team has come to expect, and maybe even needs, an all-state performance every game from Ian Cummings.

The Tomahawks certainly got one from the senior against Bishop Guertin on Tuesday.

Cummings led Merrimack on both ends of the floor as the Tomahawks took control of the game in the fourth quarter and held on for a 44-40 win over the Cardinals in Division I action.

Merrimack (2-2) went on a 7-0 run in the fourth to wrestle control of a back-and-forth game away from the Cardinals (0-4). Cummings finished with a game-high 20 points for the Tomahawks, and also had a couple of assists and steals that helped put the game away, while Jared Dyer added 10 points for Merrimack and Owen Ploss had eight.

"That’s what a Division I top five player is supposed to do," Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. "That’s what we need him to do and I don’t think early in the year that’s what he was doing. I think was a little inspired (Tuesday) and he played a nice game.

"He played the game he’s capable of playing. He did a good job on Yannis (Nyantengi). He was chewing us up and we asked Cummings to guard him, and I don’t think he hurt us as bad in the second half. You’ve got to take your hat off to Cummings for playing both ends of the court."

Nyantengi led Bishop Guertin with 14 points while Joe Noon (three 3-pointers) and Samuel Mullett both came off the bench to score nine apiece for the Cardinals.

After falling behind by as many as nine points in the third quarter, a basket by Mullett with 5:38 to play tied the game at 33\. Although Merrimack's run gave it a seven-point lead, Bishop Guertin twice had a chance to make it a one-possession game but turned the ball over both times.

"We’re there, we’ve just got to learn how to win," Bishop Guertin coach Matt Regan said. "I was happy with the way we executed the defensive game plan. We played really hard and that’s what I told them in the locker room.

"They’re two best players (Cummings and Ploss) are seniors and they’ve been through every war imaginable. They’re high-level players, and every time we stretched it out, one of them made some sort of play. That’s what those type of players do."

After a 3 by Cummings have Merrimack a 10-8 lead in the final seconds of the first quarter, Bishop Guertin opened the second with a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the game. The Cardinals held the advantage for most of the quarter, despite watching the Tomahawks chip away.

A pair of free throws from Cummings made it 19-18 Bishop Guertin with 1:03 left to go until halftime, and after a few empty possessions for both teams, the Cardinals tried to hold for the final shot. Instead, Bishop Guertin turned the ball over with 11.5 seconds left and Cummings hit a fall-away 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Merrimack a 21-19 lead at the break.

"We didn’t recognize there was only 15 seconds on the clock when we were bringing the ball up the first time," Regan said. "As all coaches will say, if you have the lead, you want to go into the half with it. To me, we shouldn’t have gotten that defensive possession if we had run a last-second play."

Merrimack opened the second half with a 10-3 run, going up 31-22 on another basket by Cummings, but Bishop Guertin answered.

A pair of 3-pointers by Mullett and Noon cut the lead to three points with 1:26 to go in the third, and Nyantengi made one of two free throws in the final seconds of the quarter to make it a two-point game. After the Cardinals grabbed a pair off offensive rebounds on their first possession of the fourth, Nyantengi got to the basket and scored to tie it at 31.

Cummings hit two free throws at the other end to put the Tomahawks back in front, but Mullett scored for the Cardinals to knot it at 33\. Dyer scored on a putback on Merrimack's next possession and a steal by Cummings turned into a transition basket to give the Tomahawks a four-point lead with 4:45 to play.

Merrimack was able to maintain possession for almost two minutes after that, working the ball around as Bishop Guertin was forced to foul to try to get into the bonus. A three-point play by J.J. Martinez made it 40-33 with 1:36 to go, giving the Tomahawks enough of a cushion to hold on for the win.

"Any time you get an away victory, you’ve got to take it," Goodridge said. "BG was well-coached and they really came at us with a good game plan. We’re getting better."