Tomahawks return to form

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sharing is something you are supposed to learn in nursery school. But it’s a concept that is sometimes lost on a high school basketball player.

Why share when you know you can dribble through the entire opposition and get to the rim? Why share when you know that 22-foot fall-away jumper is destined for nothing but net?

There is a tradition of sharing with the Merrimack High School boys basketball program, and it was on display Friday night when the Tomahawks bounced back from their first loss of the season – Tuesday night at Salem – to beat a very dangerous Alvirne team, 68-57, before another big hometown crowd at the H. Dana Taylor Gym.

Alvirne came out in a triangle-and-two defense, designed to stop Merrimack’s two biggest guns, freshman point guard Dimitri Floras and senior forward Eric Watson.

It wasn’t a bad strategy, and Alvirne coach Kevin Bonney changed defenses numerous times to keep the Tomahawks off balance.

But ultimately, while the Broncos did a nice job on Floras and Watson, holding them to a combined 16 points and shutting Floras out in the first half and blanking Watson in the second, it opened things up for others.

Merrimack finished with five players in double figures, led by senior guard Matt Hardwick’s 14 points. Travis Maser added 12, Anthony Floras had 12 and Tyler Gendron had 11 off the bench.

Watson got all 10 of his points in the first half and Dimitri Floras, held in check for most of the game, drilled a pair of big 3-pointers in the second half, the second turning a six-point lead to a nine-point advantage with 2:48 left.

“We talked a lot this week about how we didn’t share the ball in Salem as much as we can,’’ Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge said. “Alvirne did a great job of changing up defense tonight.

“What really helped us is when A-Flo (Anthony Floras) and Hardwick hit those foul line jumpers to open things up.’’

Some players you need to tell not to shoot. Goodridge has had the opposite problem with Hardwick, a scrappy player who just might be the state’s best 5-foot-10 rebounding guard.

“I always knew Hardwick could shoot, but he hardly ever does,’’ Goodridge said. “He shoots lights out in practice. Now he’s getting more and more confidence and if you leave that kid alone, he’s going to make it.’’

And while balanced scoring is important, so is team rebounding. Watson is Merrimack’s biggest starter at 6-foot-3. Friday night they went against an Alvirne front line that includes a trio of 6-foot-4 players, senior Ryan Sweeney, junior Sean Moyen and sophomore James Tomaswick.

“Alvirne is a really good team and we have horrible mismatches with them,’’ Goodridge said. “This was a really big win for us because it was over a really good team that is going to make some noise in March.’’

Senior Anthony Floras said Tuesday night’s last-second loss in Salem was an important learning experience for the team.

“We were 8-0, had just beaten BG and felt we were on top of the world,’’ Floras said. “It was a good reality check. We need to come and play every night.

“Tonight we were better prepared. We knew if we dropped this one it could potentially lead to a downhill slide.’’

And after a few tough winters in Merrimack, the Tomahawks are taking nothing for granted and find a 9-1 record a pretty good thing to share with teammates.

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