’Hawks leave ’em cheering

Thursday, February 4, 2010

When the bus carrying the Merrimack High School boys basketball team arrived at entrance to the Bishop Guertin gym a little after 4:30 on Friday afternoon, the occupants couldn’t quite believe what they saw.

Loyal members of the Merrimack student body, who began gathering an hour earlier, surrounded the bus and began chanting support as the players stepped off the bus. Five hours later, many of the same Merrimack students stormed the floor and mobbed the team after its dramatic 59-56 victory kept the Tomahawks as Class L’s only unbeaten team.

High school sporting events don’t always live up to the hype. How could they, considering some of the participants are a birthday or two shy from being eligible for a learner’s permit?

But this one did, before a standing room only crowd of more than 800, who jammed the bleachers at Bishop Guertin to capacity 15 minutes before the start of the junior varsity game.

According to athletic director Tony Johnson, hundreds of others weren’t as lucky. By halftime of the JV game the building was full.

“This was just a great high school experience for the young men on both teams,’’ Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. “When the bus pulled up it was like we were on American Idol, it was just crazy out there.

“Right from the onset this had the billing to be a great game, and quite honestly it turned out to be a great game.’’

Early on, it didn’t look what way. Merrimack jumped on the Cardinals early, leading 12-2 out of the game and 30-12 by midway through the second quarter. But Bishop Guertin, 2-for-13 from the foul line in the first half and also 2-for-13 from behind the 3-point stripe, crawled back to within 11 at halftime, then used a 15-2 run in the third quarter to pull within one.

The Cardinals would never lead, but a 3-pointer by Sean McClung with 18 seconds remaining got them within a point, and McClung stepped to the line with a chance to tie the game with 7.9 seconds left.

He made the first, back-rimmed the second, and Merrimack’s Matt Harding would finally ice it with a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock.

Was it perfect basketball? Not by a longshot, or in the case of the Cardinals, a foul shot. McClung’s miss left them 9-for-25 from the line on the night. But if it wasn’t for the junior from Merrimack it wouldn’t have been a game. McClung kept the Cardinals in it throughout, finishing with a game-high 25 points.

“Free throws have been a problems for us, off and on, all season,’’ said Bishop Guertin assistant coach Marty Edwards, who filled in Friday night for head coach Jim Migneault. “It’s something we definitely need to work on.’’

Migneault was sitting out a one-game suspension. Although Johnson wouldn’t elaborate, it reportedly stemmed from an incident that occurred after the team’s narrow loss in Salem.

The coach, who himself has strong Merrimack ties as a resident and Merrimack’s former coach, missed a great game. The Cardinals were also missing a powerful inside force in second-leading scorer Connor Green, who is expecting to sit for another 2-3 weeks because of an ankle injury.

There were plenty of heroes for the Tomahawks, but topping the list had to be freshman point guard Dimitri Floras, who outside of a 30-second rest late in the third quarter didn’t leave the floor.

Floras was sensational throughout, finishing with 20 points, including a second quarter jam. Only 14, he’s quickly established himself as one of the state’s top players, and is emerging as a Player of the Year candidate.

“This was a lot of fun, a different atmosphere than I’ve ever played in,’’ Floras said. “We got off to a great start, but we knew Bishop Guertin would make a run, they are too good a team.’’

And if the two teams meet again, they should hold it in a building that can hold everyone that wants to see it.

The University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym, in mid-March, would fit the bill.

Gary Fitz can be reached at 594-6469 or gfitz@nashuatelegraph.com.