Manchester Central boys basketball storms back to beat Winnacunnet in D1 semis (video)

DURHAM – Doc Wheeler would have been all right with the Manchester Central High School boys basketball losing to Winnacunnet in Tuesday’s Division I semifinal if the Little Green had played its best.

But Central wasn’t. In fact, through three-plus quarters, the Little Green weren’t even close.

Down 10 points with under six minutes to play, Wheeler used two timeouts to try to fire up his team, and whatever the coach said, it worked.

No. 3 Central outscored No. 7 Winnacunnet 27-4 in the final five minutes to not only rally from the double-digit deficit but win going away, 58-45, at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym. The win sends the Green to the final for the third time in five years, and for the third time, Central will face No. 5 Merrimack, which defeated No. 9 Manchester Memorial in the other semifinal.

Jonathin Makori led Central (17-4) with 23 points, 17 of which came in the second half, while Jaylen LeRoy had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Evan MacDonald added 13 points. The Green did most of their damage in the fourth quarter at the free throw line, going 16 of 18, but MacDonald also had two 3s that got Central back in the game and Makori hit another that gave it the lead for good.

“I told them you’ve got six minutes left in your career,” Wheeler said. “I felt like we made a mistake and we put our heads down and we didn’t spring back. I said you have six minutes left to play to make yourself remember your senior year. Don’t quit. Give it everything you have and if you do your best, and we lose, OK. But we’re not doing our best.”

Winnacunnet (14-7) got 16 points and four assists from Liam Viviano, but no one else was in double figures for the Warriors. Zachary Waterhouse added eight points and four rebounds and Anthony Primavera had six points and also grabbed four boards.

After shooting 45.5 percent from the field in the first half, the Warriors were just 6 of 20 in the second half. They took an 11-point lead at the start of the third quarter, but turned the ball over on six straight possessions and couldn’t extend the lead.

“I’m sure it kind of set things in motion,” Winnacunnet coach Jay McKenna said. “We made a couple of … we were talking about being impatient. I don’t think we were as patient and that led to a couple of turnovers.

“We were up nine at the half and our defense looked solid. I thought we rebounded the ball pretty well after we made some shots. I was very pleased with how things went (in the first half).”

Winnacunnet was able to stay in control in the third quarter, despite the turnovers. Central went on an 11-3 run to make it a three-point game with 2:35 to go in the frame, but the Warriors went on a 6-0 run, including a 3 by James Morse, to take a 38-29 lead with 36 seconds left in the half.

The Green were able to hold for the final shot of the quarter, and LeRoy’s jumper with five seconds left made it a seven-point game after three.

The Warriors’ lead went back to double digits on a free throw by Patrick Witt and a steal and layup by Freddy Schaake, which prompted the first of the two timeouts. And suddenly, after the second break, Central turned the game around.

“It’s not easy,” Wheeler said. “If you’re getting hit in the face for 27 minutes, and anything you’re doing is not going your way, it’s tough to have that perseverance to come back and make plays. I thought when we hit a couple of shots, the crowd got back into it, and I could see everyone lift up.”

Winnacunnet still led 43-34 with 4:21 to play, but the Warriors would go scoreless for almost four minutes, missing their final eight field goal attempts and three straight one-and-ones.

“Things didn’t go quite the way we wanted in that fourth quarter,” McKenna said. “In that final stretch, we had one senior on the floor. Those things happen and unfortunately it happened to us (Tuesday).”

Central will be looking for its second title in three years when it takes on Merrimack on Saturday.