MANCHESTER, N.H. – Manchester Central has won the Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament 25 times, but number 26 just wasn’t in the cards on Friday night.
Finishing off the 56th Annual Queen City Invitational Basketball Tournament, Central fell to the Blue Hawks of Exeter, 94-65.
Despite early foul trouble, Central kept things close early on, finishing the first quarter down just 21-20. Exeter would open that lead up to 12 by the half. However, the Little Green’s high energy approach on both ends of the court during the first half made it clear that a dozen point swing was not out of the realm of possibility, exemplified by a steal and field goal less than a second before halftime by Central’s Dede Niyang.
Central was able to narrow the lead to nine points, but several more trips to the foul line early in the third quarter allowed Exeter to blunt Central’s progress, culminating with a pair of fouls within a few seconds assessed to Central’s Jaythan Bosch.
The Blue Hawks ultimately widened their lead to 16 by the end of the third quarter, largely on the back of 9-for-10 performance at the charity stripe during the quarter.
A foul moments into the fourth quarter was coupled by a technical foul by Central’s Jesus Milan, after Milan expressed disgust at the referees following the initial call. Exeter’s Josh Morrissette used the opportunity to drain four consecutive free throws, beginning what became a slow inexorable countdown to the contest’s conclusion.
Although his squad couldn’t bring home a tourney title, Central head coach Sudi Lett saw the contest as a good learning experience for a squad that might have gotten three early regular season wins a bit too easily.
“The real reality is I’ve never blamed a referee for our team’s performance, we need to do better with our fouling and need to get back on defense,” said Lett. “They had 94 points and I’m guessing 30 of those were in transition on uncontested layups.”
Lett added that his team learned that they can’t rely on a late comeback against quality teams like Exeter. Indeed, senior Kevin Henry singlehandedly pulled the Blue Hawks into their comfortable lead with 18 points in the second quarter alone, including individually outscoring Central 12-0 during a stretch midway through the quarter.
“He’s got that ability to find the ball, you can’t teach that,” said Exeter head coach Jeffrey Holmes.
Henry led all scorers with 29 points, followed closely by Morrisette’s 27. Milan topped Central with 15 points.
Four of the tournament’s eight teams hailed from Manchester, with Memorial finishing in fourth after a 43-41 loss to Lebanon on Friday. Trinity lost the fifth-place game to Salem, 47-32. West finished in the basement after losing all of their games, culminating with a 61-52 loss to Bedford.