Memorial hangs on late to beat Merrimack

MANCHESTER – Through all the ups and downs, the Merrimack High School boys basketball team was within striking distance of Manchester Memorial Friday night.

Dimitri Floras made two free throws with 35 seconds left to get the Tomahawks within two points, an incredible circumstance considering Merrimack was down by 15 in the first half, took the lead in the third quarter, and trailed by 10 going into the fourth.

But after the second make, the ’Hawks left Memorial’s Tim Lanyan alone at the other end of the floor and his easy layup put the game away for the Crusaders, as they held on to win 67-61 in a Division I game.

“We were right back in the game,” Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. “It was a one-possession game and it goes right back to youth again where we miscommunicate and we give up an open layup and it really hurt us in the end. That was really the game.”

It didn’t help that Merrimack fell behind 9-0 to open the game and didn’t score its first points almost five minutes into the game.

“I think the first quarter we should have stayed on the bus,” Goodridge said. “I don’t know if we were intimidated; we’re a really young team. We’ve got a sophomore, a freshman and two juniors starting. We knew this was a pretty big game tonight, but there was no intensity in the first quarter.”

Merrimack got 34 points from Floras, who hit six 3-pointers, but did most of his damage in the second and third quarters. Tyler Gendron was the only other Merrimack (8-3) player in double figures, scoring 12 points.

David Madol had 30 points to lead Memorial (10-2), 20 of which came in a first half that saw him score from inside and outside the 3-point line.

“I had (Jared) Peabody on him,” Goodridge said. “He’s our ‘D’ guy. Early on, I don’t think he was getting a body on him and boxing out, and Madol seemed like he was really coming down the lane and throwing it down. We did go triangle-and-two. We tried a lot of things tonight. We were one-two-two, then we tried to soften them going with a press, trying to slow them down and they went through that.”

Despite their first-half struggles, the ’Hawks were only down eight at halftime, thanks largely to Floras. After going scoreless in the first quarter, the Merrimack sophomore dropped 16 points in the second, 12 of which came from behind the 3-point line.

It was more of the same from Floras in the third quarter. Memorial opened with a 3-pointer by Nick Wheaton to make it 41-30, but the ’Hawks answered with a 14-2 run and took their first lead, 44-43, on a 3 by Floras with 4:41 left in the quarter.

Madol got the lead right back for the Crusaders, scoring five straight points, but two free throws and another 3 from Floras put Merrimack on top 49-48.

But just when it looked like Merrimack was in control, Memorial took over. The Crusaders went on an 11-0 run in the final 3:16 to take a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The ’Hawks chipped away at the lead in the fourth as they held the Crusaders scoreless for three minutes. Merrimack closed the gap to 61-59 with 2:20 to play, but Memorial went back up four following two free throws from Madol.

Memorial had a shot at more, but Lanyan missed the front end of a one-and-one, got his own rebound and then had his shot blocked by Peabody. Floras missed a 3 at the other end, but Memorial turned the ball over, setting up Floras’ free throws and Lanyan’s layup.

“That’s correctible,” Goodridge said of the busted play. “You can’t correct heart and desire, which I didn’t think we had early on in the first quarter. You can certainly correct communication mistakes.”

Merrimack opened the game cold against Memorial’s zone, missing on everything it took, inside and out. The ’Hawks fell behind 9-0 midway through the opening quarter and didn’t score their first basket until 3:27 remained.

A 3-pointer by Floras early in the second quarter cut the lead down to six, 16-10, but Memorial went on a 13-4 run to stretch it to a 15-point advantage. Shomari Morgan had seven points during that stretch, and finished with 14.

But Merrimack responded, outscoring the Crusaders 13-6 over the next four minutes to cut the lead down to eight. Memorial pushed its advantage back up to 11, but a buzzer-beating 3 by Floras made it 38-30 at halftime.

Merrimack heads back on the road on Tuesday when it travels to Dover.