Gendron's big fourth quarter lifts Merrimack boys basketball over Bishop Guertin

MERRIMACK - The emergence of scoring options other than Eric Gendron is a big reason why the Merrimack High School boys basketball team is having success this season.

Of course, it doesn't hurt when the Tomahawks senior can take over a game.

Gendron did just that Tuesday night against Bishop Guertin, scoring 15 straight points in the fourth quarter to lift Merrimack to a 60-52 victory. The win was the fifth in a row for the Tomahawks (12-1) and sets up a showdown for second place in Division I Friday against Trinity (12-1).

For the Cardinals (10-3), its the second game in a row they've fallen behind early and battled back to tie a game at 43 in the second half before ultimately falling.

The game was tied at 43 going into the fourth quarter when Gendron, who had just four points at the time, went off.

"Eric was taking over that game, I could sense it," Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. "We got the flow of the game going for us at that point and he pushed us through it."

Gendron finished with a game-high 19 points while Shayne Bourque added 17 for Merrimack and Mickey Gasper had 10, including two 3-pointers.

Bishop Guertin got 18 points from Joe Marandola and Kyle Gavin chipped in 17, but no one else had more than seven. The Cardinals were also without guard C.J. Boykin, who is out for the immediate future.

"It’s something I’m talking to the administration with right now," Migneault said after the game. "The kids stepped up and played. We had to dig our way out."

Merrimack came out firing, making four 3-pointers in the first quarter to lead 25-15 after eight minutes. Bishop Guertin's defense stepped up in the second quarter, holding the Tomahawks to just five points while keeping the ball out of Gendron's hands.

"The first quarter, we came out on fire and everybody is shooting 3s and everything is great and we're looking good," Goodridge said. "And then we didn't execute what we normally execute for a while. When you've got the leading scorer in the state, you've got to look for him to get his shots."

Migneault attributed the Cardinals' success on defense in part to the way Gavin played on Gendron.

"I thought he did a really good job on (Gendron)," Migneault said. "He hit those couple in a row and that's what he does. He's a streaky player and he’s a good streaky player."

Down 30-25 at the start of the third quarter, the Cardinals went on an 10-4 run, taking their first lead of the game on a three-point play by Andrew Williams with 3:32 left in the quarter. Merrimack answered immediately on a putback by Gendron - his only points of the third - and the teams traded baskets again to give the Tomahawks a 38-37 lead.

The teams went back and forth for the rest of the quarter, with Jack Zimmerman's two free throws tying it at 43 going into the final quarter. Bishop Guertin got the ball first to open the fourth, but missed a layup and Gendron hit a 3 at the other end.

The Cardinals got a basket from Gavin at the other end, but Gendron made a reverse layup to put Merrimack back up three. After a basket by Marandola, Gendron added another layup, two free throws and another 3 to give the Tomahawks a 55-49 lead with 3:23 left.

Bishop Guertin would get within four points with 1:52 left, but missed a layup that would have made it a two-point game with about 90 seconds left and missed the front end of a one-and-one with 1:17 to play.

"Credit Bishop Guertin, they were playing pretty good defense on him," Goodridge said. "He fought through it and he was the show in the fourth quarter. He willed us to that victory."