Manchester Central boys basketball completes undefeated season, beats Merrimack in D1 title game

DURHAM – Doc Wheeler stood at midcourt in the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium, and with one hand he pointed at the crowd that had gathered Saturday to show support for the Manchester Central High School boys basketball team.

In the other hand, the longtime coach of the Little Green held the Division I championship plaque.

Wheeler and his No. 1 Central team had just earned it by holding off No. 3 Merrimack in the title game, 70-61, to complete an undefeated season, the first one for the Little Green since their last title to finish off the 2005-06 season.

That was also the last time Central was the king of the division.

“When I just started, it seemed like winning championships is just something you do,” Wheeler said. “Having time in between makes you appreciate it. I’m just so blessed that we have the group that we have. They allow you to coach them and I couldn’t be happier.”

But Central had enough down the stretch, including going 7 of 8 at the free throw line, to hang on for the program’s 18th championship.

“I’m overwhelmed right now,” Jon Martin said. “We worked so hard in the offseason and wow, to go undefeated and to fulfill this, it’s great. Wow, that’s all I have to say.”

Merrimack got 32 points and 14 rebounds from Eric Gendron, who finished his high school career with 1,329 points, and Shayne Bourque was the only other Tomahawks player in double figures with 11 points.

While the Tomahawks made a run in the second half, they ended up in the position to need one with a sluggish first half offensive. Merrimack shot just 6 of 18 from the field, getting all 11 of its first-quarter points from Gendron and all nine of its second-quarter points from Bourque to trail 33-20 at halftime.

“Our problem wasn’t so much defensively, because they are knocking the lights out,” Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. “They only got 33 points, which wasn’t unreasonable for what was going on up there. The problem is, we only scored 20. We talked at halftime that we would get our run, and we did get our run, and we didn’t quit, and that’s all you can ask for.”

The Tomahawks were able to cut the Central lead down to eight points early in the third quarter, but a 3-pointer by Joey Martin and a three-point play by Hanson put the Little Green up 42-28. The teams went back and forth for the rest of the quarter until another 3 by Joey Martin made it 56-40 going into the fourth.

Merrimack opened the quarter with a couple of quick baskets by Austin Franzen and Zach Kerr, and after a layup by Jon Martin made it 58-44, the Tomahawks went on a 10-0 run. Gendron had eight points during that stretch as Merrimack cut the lead down to four points, 58-54, with 2:53 to play.

Wheeler called a timeout to let the Little Green regroup.

“I told them, all we need is one good possession to turn momentum,” he said. “If we get two or three points, we flip the momentum.”

That’s exactly what Central did, running a full possession before Joey Martin drained another 3-pointer. After Gendron missed a 3 at the other end, the Little Green came right back, getting another three-point play from Hanson and all of a sudden, it was a 10-point lead again, 64-54.

“To our players’ credit, we had about a 25 or 30 second possession, got a wide-open look and Joey Martin drained that 3,” Wheeler said. “That was huge. It flipped the whole game. That kills the momentum.”

Goodridge could see at that moment that the comeback was likely over for the Tomahawks.

“We got it to four (points),” he said. “If (Joey Martin) misses that shot … that huge 3, that was like a dagger. Our kids had battled so hard to get to that point and I don’t think we had any gas left.”

The game unfolded in a way similar to when the teams met in the regular season, except Central got on Merrimack right from the start instead of later in the game.

“Merrimack is a very good team and they are very well-coached,” Wheeler said. “We watched the film. When we played them in the regular season, they came out and were up 15-7 on us in the first quarter. We thought if we could come out early and flip it, we could control the pace of the game.

“I try to think about what to say to the players when the game is done. When you win it’s easy, everyone is happy, but it’s such a buildup and then it’s all done. To have to console them after a loss would have been awful.”

Wheeler didn’t have to worry about that, and won’t until next season.