Merrimack girls basketball rallies in fourth quarter to beat Bedford (video)

MERRIMACK - The Merrimack High School girls basketball team was just trying to let the clock run, but when an opening presented itself, Theresa Twardosky had to take it.

With under 10 seconds to play in a tie game against Bedford, the Tomahawks junior drove to the basket and was fouled with 5.7 seconds to go.

Twardosky made the first free throw, missed the second, but that one point was enough, as half-court attempt by the Bulldogs' Allison Morgan was off the mark, giving Merrimack a 47-46 win that didn't seem likely at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Tomahawks trailed by nine heading into the final eight minutes, and had struggled to shut down Bedford's Isabella King, but Merrimack (13-1) held the Bulldogs (10-3) without a field goal in the fourth, outscoring them 14-4.

"The part we needed to do a better job in the second half was rebound defensively," Merrimack coach Mike Soucy said. "We gave them too many second chances in the first half, and against a team like that, that shoots the ball as well as they do, you can’t do that. You’ve got to rebound that first miss."

Merrimack also forced six Bedford turnovers in the fourth quarter after the Bulldogs had just eight through the first three quarters.

Twardosky finished with 15 points for the Tomahawks, including the team's last seven points of the game, while Riley Crampton, Samantha Page and Gillian Waller each added eight points.

After struggling shooting from outside most of the night, Twardosky went inside late in the game, tying the score at 44 on a drive with 3:15 remaining, and then giving Merrimack its first lead since the first half with a putback with 2:39 to play.

"I did get some shots up, but it was just rough," Twardosky said. "I knew after they didn’t go in that I had to change my game up. I’m going to have to drive and hopefully get the other team in foul trouble."

With Morgan and Amanda Jonas battling foul trouble, most of Bedford's scoring came from King, who finished with 32 points, including 13 of the Bulldogs' 15 points in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, King and Morgan each hit a pair of free throws for Bedford's only points.

"To Merrimack’s credit, they dictated the tempo, they dictated what we did on offense," Bedford coach Kevin Gibbs said. "I tell the girls all the time, it’s a battle of wills, it’s a chess match, and there were a few too many times where they made us do what they wanted us to do. Having said that, we still had the opportunity in the end."

For most of the night, Bedford had an answer for every Merrimack run. The Tomahawks tied the game at 17 with 3:43 left in the first half, and with Morgan and Jonas on the bench in foul trouble, the Bulldogs responded by ending the half on a 10-2 run.

Merrimack cut the lead to three midway through the third quarter, but Bedford answered with a 7-0 run to go up by 10 and eventually took a 42-33 lead into the fourth quarter. Back-to-back baskets by the Tomahawks cut the lead to five, and after two free throws by Morgan, Merrimack got within two on a basket by Waller and three-point play from Page with 4:10 remaining.

Merrimack took a timeout, still down 44-42, with 3:26 remaining, and that's when Twardosky stepped up. Her layup moments later tied the game, and after the Tomahawks got possession back on a jump ball, her putback made it 46-44 with 2:39 left.

King hit a pair of free throws to tie the game again, and Bedford had a chance to take the lead, but a turnover allowed Merrimack to take another timeout with 1:07 left and the Tomahawks tried to run the clock down for a final shot.

"We brought the ball out, we let time run down, and I knew when she came up on me, I had to drive it," Twardosky said of her game-winning play. "When I went up there, I wasn’t nervous at all, it was just me and the hoop. I knew if I made the first one, then the second one, I didn’t have to worry as much."