Manchester Central boys basketball beats Merrimack in OT to win D1 title (video)

DURHAM – The plan for the No. 3 Manchester Central High School boys basketball team was to force No. 5 Merrimack to take a low-percentage shot.

The Tomahawks still made the shot, the only problem was, it came after the buzzer.

With the Little Green up two points with 6.1 seconds left in overtime of Saturday’s Division I championship game at the University of New Hampshire, Merrimack was able to get the ball down the court and tried to get a basket to tie the game.

Central cut off the lane and forced the Tomahawks to go for the win, but less than a second too late. A 3-point attempt by Noah Beygelman was good, leading to a moment of celebration by Merrimack and its fans, but the officials waved the basket off, giving Central a 60-58 win and the Division I title.

“We know the kid that (Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge) put in at the very end is a very good shooter,” Central coach Doc Wheeler said. “When he came in, I’m yelling at the kids ‘he can shoot, he can shoot.’ We were just trying to stay in front of him, we didn’t want to get beat.

“We actually made an error on the inbounds pass. I thought I saw the red go off before the kid let it go. I guess there will be videos that will show us one way or the other, but we had to stay in front of them and make them take a contested outside shot.”

It was fitting end for a game that saw the lead change 16 times, including seven times in the fourth quarter and overtime, and was tied 10 times.

Jaylen LeRoy led all scorers with 25 points, and grabbed 10 rebounds, for Central (18-4), as he went 12 of 16 from the line, including 8 of 11 in the final 12 minutes to help the Little Green win the game. Jonathin Makori was also in double figures with 13 points and Evan MacDonald had nine points on three 3-pointers.

Zak Kerr had 21 points, including 14 after halftime, to lead Merrimack (15-7), while Ian Cummings came of the bench to add 14 points and Ian Roberts (11 points, 10 boards) and Andrew Wojciak (11 points) were also in double figures.

“It was a great game,” Goodridge said. “Both teams made mistakes, both teams played hard. We had some runs, we just didn’t seem to get that big run where we could get up six or eight (points) and we could have done our grind-it-out stuff.

“We seemed like we were catching up all day. We couldn’t seem to get over that next step. It was a well-played high school basketball. I don’t know how you get more exciting than that.”

Merrimack took the lead early, but Central came back to go up 15-8 late in the first quarter and 20-12 early in the second. After a timeout, the Tomahawks answered with a 9-0 run that gave them a 21-20 lead midway through the second, but the Little Green were able to take a 26-25 lead into halftime.

Central got the lead up to four points early in the third, 31-27, but Merrimack responded with a 9-1 run to take a 36-32 lead with 2:25 left in the quarter. The Tomahawks had two chances to extend the lead, but came up empty both times, and a 3 by MacDonald and a basket by Osiah Lewis gave Central a 37-36 lead with 13 seconds left in the quarter.

But with time winding down, Kerr got the ball and went the length of the court for a buzzer-beating layup that gave the Tomahawks a 38-37 advantage going into the fourth.

The teams traded the lead through the first half of the quarter before Central went ahead 47-43 on two free throws by Makori with 3:05 to play. But Merrimack came back to take the lead with a 6-0 run on a pair of free throws each by Wojciak and Roberts and a basket by Kerr.

A foul on Merrimack with 32 seconds left put LeRoy at the line, and he made both free throws to tie the game at 49. The Tomahawks held the ball for the final shot, but Kerr’s layup attempt bounced out and LeRoy grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 2.1 seconds left.

The Little Green tried to throw the ball the length of the court, but Cummings came up with the steal and his halfcourt shot at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and then the backboard before bouncing away.

“It was clockwork, (LeRoy) got the rebound and called the timeout,” Wheeler said. “Not exactly clockwork when (Cummings) stole it and nearly made it from halfcourt. But that’s the game.”

Central took a 53-49 lead early in overtime on a putback and two free throws by LeRoy, but Merrimack tied it up on back-to-back baskets by Cummings. A jumper by Makori and a free throw from LeRoy gave Central the lead again, 56-53, with 1:02 left, but the Tomahawks had several chances to tie.

Merrimack had four opportunities to either cut the lead or tie the game, thanks to three offensive rebounds, but Cummings missed three 3-point attempts and Wojciak missed two free throws and Central finally got a rebound.

The teams traded free throws over the next 14 seconds, giving the Little Green a 59-55 lead with 16 seconds left, but a 3-pointer from the corner by Wojciak got Merrimack within one with 6.8 seconds left. The Tomahawks took a timeout and fouled right away, sending LeRoy back to the line.

The Central senior made one of two with 6.1 seconds to go, putting the Little Green up 60-58, and setting up Merrimack’s last chance.

Kerr inbounded the ball to Cummings, got it back and raced down the court. His path to the basket was cut off, and the ball appeared to get knocked away, but Beygelman, who had just entered the game for the first time, was there to grab it. He took one dribble and then launched a 3 that left his hand just after the buzzer.

“We’re just not good enough that it’s going to be easy,” Wheeler said. “We’re fundamentally flawed, but the thing with this crew is they’ve been able to find ways to win. Where we’re fundamentally flawed, Merrimack is good enough and well-coached enough that they made us pay. You’ve just got to live through it.”