Manchester Memorial boys basketball wraps up top seed with win over Merrimack
MANCHESTER - On the final night of the regular season, the Manchester Memorial High School boys basketball team battled Merrimack, as both looked to improve their playoff positioning. With a playoff atmosphere in the stands, coach Danny Bryson's Crusaders had to rally in the second half and came out
MANCHESTER - On the final night of the regular season, the Manchester Memorial High School boys basketball team battled Merrimack, as both looked to improve their playoff positioning.
With a playoff atmosphere in the stands, coach Danny Bryson's Crusaders had to rally in the second half and came out on top, 55-48.
“This game was treated as a first playoff game” Bryson said. “Even a struggling Merrimack team, coached by Tim Goodridge, is a tough team.”
The Tomahawks got out to an early lead on the back of their point guard Adam Ellis, who had two first quarter 3-pointers and finished the game with 11 points. After the first quarter Merrimack led 14-7.
Merrimack (8-10) was having a lot of success early on getting in passing lanes and creating points in transition.
The Crusaders (13-5) battled back over the course of the game, trimming the lead to 26-24 at halftime. Leading the way for Memorial in the first half was Tyson Thomas who had all six of his points at half.
The Crusaders also got a big game from Michael Roujmar and Jake Santiago, who had 12 points each. Santiago had seven fourth-quarter points, including a stretch where he scored five straight for the Crusaders on three straight possessions, capped off by a stellar one-on-one defensive play leading to a fast-break layup.
Merrimack was led by Jared Dyer with 14 points and Ian Cummings with 13. Cummings, Merrimack’s leading scorer throughout the season, fouled out with 2:37 remaining on a controversial play, helping seal the victory for Memorial.
“Recently, my team seemed to be so focused on getting the third seed (and achieving a bye) and we over looked some teams," Bryson said. "Treating this like a playoff game and guaranteeing two home games is a good step.”
Memorial will likely be the fourth seed when the Division I pairings are announced, and would play No. 13 Nashua South in the preliminary round on Wednesday. Merrimack would be the 10th seed and will likely play at Alvirne.
