Manchester Memorial girls basketball holds off Merrimack (video)

MERRIMACK - The Manchester Memorial High School girls basketball team has had enough close games this season that the Crusaders have learned what works and what doesn't coming down the stretch.

That includes the coaching staff.

With 6.8 seconds remaining, and Memorial up three points after a pair of free throws by Ryan Moran, the Crusaders opted to foul after Merrimack put the ball in play, putting the Tomahawks at the free throw line instead of attempting a game-tying 3-pointer.

The move worked for Memorial, as Merrimack's Makenna Desfosses made the first with 3.6 seconds left, and intentionally missed the second, but the Crusaders grabbed the rebound to close out a 42-40 win over the Tomahawks in a Division I contest.

"We knew a 3 was really the only thing that could hurt us," Memorial coach Greg Cotreau said. "It was kind of a lesson learned from the (Manchester) Central game that we won in overtime. I kind of remembered if Central did this, that would have helped them win that game. What if we were to do that? It worked for us."

Memorial (14-1) hit a game-tying 3 to force overtime against the Little Green, and against Merrimack (14-2), it was a 3-pointer by Lyric Grumblatt with 2:05 to play that helped swing things the Crusaders' way. That basket gave Memorial a 36-35 lead after the Crusaders had trailed by four earlier in the fourth quarter.

Grumblatt finished with 11 points, as she and Jessica Carrier sat for more than 10 minutes in the first half with two fouls each. Jennessa Brunette led Memorial with 12 points and Tamrah Gould added nine.

Merrimack got 14 points from Riley Crampton while Samantha Page had 12 points and Theresa Twardosky scored eight of her nine points in the first half.

"They shadowed (Twardosky) a little more, they came out and pressured her a little more, and she’s going to see that all year," Merrimack coach Mike Soucy said. "Other people can step up and they did. It’s not going to be one person that’s going to win a game for you, it’s the team, and that’s how we’ve played all year."

With Grumblatt and Carrier on the bench, Merrimack was able to take a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter after not scoring for almost four minutes to start the game. But Memorial kept it close, taking a 17-16 lead on a jumper by Brunette with 3:41 left in the first half.

"We’ve been in so many of these close games now," Cotreau said. "I say to my assistants ‘we’re digging ourselves a hole, one of these days, it’s going to be too big.’ Every time I say that, a switch goes off and these girls (go on a run).

"It says a lot about our kids, especially our kids on the bench. Everybody who got into the game in the first half did something to help keep us close. It could have went completely sideways."

Crampton answered right away for the Tomahawks, starting a 6-0 run that gave Merrimack a 22-17 lead. Gould made two free throws in the final seconds of the half to make it a three-point game, and Memorial opened the second half with a 7-0 run to go up 26-22.

The Tomahawks went almost five minutes start the second half without scoring, as a layup by Page finally got Merrimack going with 3:10 left in the third. That started the Tomahawks on an 8-0 run that gave them a 30-26 lead early in the fourth quarter.

"They tweaked their defense a little more," Soucy said. "They sagged off on some of our cutters and we didn’t get some of the layups that we got in the first half. (Cotreau) is a good coach, he’s going to make good adjustments, and he did. And we adjusted. It’s a back-and-forth type of thing."

Memorial came right back with five straight points to go up 31-30, but a basket by Page gave Merrimack the lead again. Page scored again with 3:25 left to make it a 35-33 lead for the Tomahawks, and after a defensive stop, Merrimack got the ball back, but turned it over.

At the other end, Gould tried to drive to the basket but her shot was off the mark and she got knocked to the ground. Before she could get up, the rebound came right to her, and the senior kicked it out, setting up Grumblatt's 3-pointer to put Memorial up for good.

Brunette and Gould each hit a pair of free throws to give the Crusaders a 40-35 lead, but two free throws by Crampton with 26.1 seconds left made it a three-point game. A jump ball on the in-bounds pass gave Merrimack possession, but instead of trying for a 3, Crampton drove for a layup to make it a one-point game with under 10 seconds to play.

The Tomahawks fouled Moran and the junior made both free throws to give Memorial the cushion it needed to set up the final play.