MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Crusaders of Manchester Memorial picked up their first win of the still young 2022-’23 NHIAA Division I Boys’ Basketball season on Thursday night, even if they didn’t make it easy for themselves. That win came at the expense of Merrimack in the form of a late 56-55 victory.
Both sides kept things close early, going into the second quarter knotted at 11 points each, with the Crusaders pulling way to gain a 30-22 lead by halftime. However, Merrimack battled their way back and took a 42-40 lead by the end of the third.
“There’s just something about how we come out of halftime, we just seem to always have a quarter where we stall and become stagnant,” said Memorial Head Coach Danny Bryson.
Both teams would trade the lead in the fourth quarter. Memorial struggled to find points in the paint against Merrimack 6’3” junior Jenson Monroe and 6’4” senior Isaac Ynfante, Meanwhile, Ynfante could not make the most of his post presence offensively, scoring just two points from the field and went 2-for-6 from the line.
In the end, it came down to a quick turning jumper from Memorial senior Abdalha Ramadhani and a defensive stop by the Crusaders in the final seconds of the game (see video) that sealed the victory.
“(Merrimack’s) last inbound play, I thought they were trying get it to one of their big guys, but instead they went to the wing,” said Bryson. “We were just six seconds better. It was a physical game, we were a bit undersized, but we played well.”
Double-digit scorers for Memorial included Ramadhani (11), sophomore Christian Bololo (10), and sophomore Devin Lavallee (10).
Ynfante led the Tomahawks with 16 points, followed by 14 points from senior Luke Defosses.
Memorial is now 1-2 on the year and will participate in the Queen City Invitational Tournament next week, with their next regular season contest coming on Bridge Street against Trinity on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.
Merrimack falls to 2-2 on the year, after the holiday break they will host Nashua North on Jan. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK7D9teIQvs]
