Merrimack, Manchester Central boys basketball move on to Queen City Invitational Tournament final

MANCHESTER – The Merrimack High School boys basketball team is going to the final of the Queen City Invitational Tournament for the first time since 2011, and it certainly wasn’t easy.

After rallying to beat Exeter by one point in the opening game Friday, Merrimack blew an eight-point lead late in the fourth quarter before pulling out a 48-44 win in overtime against Bedford on Saturday.

The Tomahawks will now face Manchester Central in the final for the seventh time since 2000. The Little Green advanced with a 78-45 win over Manchester West in the last game Saturday night at Manchester Memorial.

The championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Memorial.

“I’m proud we’re in the finals,” Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. “To say you’re going to go to the final of this really good tournament, it’s something to be proud of. We’re a raw basketball team that needs to be good defensively and smart.

“In fairness to them, I only have one senior out there and we’re playing young. It’s my job and I put a little bit of fear in them. That’s a learning experience so that when we get down the road, we will be able to make the right decisions.”

Austin Franzen, Ian Cummings and Andrew Wojciak each had 11 points for the Tomahawks, who had a 40-32 lead after two free throws by Dylan Richardson with 3:02 left in the game.

But Merrimack went the next four-plus minutes without a point, as Bedford came back to force overtime on two baskets each by Ryan Brown and Tommy O’Rourke, including a layup by O’Rourke with three seconds left in regulation.

“(It’s) about as mad as I’ve been in five years right now,” Goodridge said. “It was more difficult for us than it had to be. We had the lead and we’re playing selfish and taking shots. It’s a learning experience and hopefully we’ll get over it and become a better basketball team.”

The Bulldogs took a 41-40 lead on a free throw by Brown – Bedford’s first lead since it was 4-2 with a little more than a minute left in the first quarter – but the Tomahawks answered on a 3-pointer by Cummings. The field goal, Merrimack’s first in over six minutes, gave the Tomahawks the lead for good.

Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter. The game was scoreless for the first 3:15, and Merrimack scored twice in the final 45 seconds to take a 6-4 lead after one.

The second wasn’t much different, and the Tomahawks went into halftime with a 17-10 lead.

O’Rourke led the Bulldogs with 12 points and Brown added 11, as Bedford lost to Merrimack for the second time in less than a week.

In the final game of the day, Central was able to take control in the later stages of the second quarter, going up 39-25 at halftime. The Little Green put the game away in the third, outscoring the Blue Knights, 20-10, in the frame.

Joey Martin led Central with 25 points, including four 3-pointers, while Jonathin Makori had 15 points, with two 3-pointers, and Ayei Akot added 12 points, also with two 3s. As a team, the Little Green hit 11 3-pointers.

West got 20 points from Zach Jones but no one else had more than seven.

The Blue Knights will take on Bedford in the third-place game at 6 p.m. on Sunday.