MANCHESTER, NH — It’s hard to gauge how much of an impact eight minutes can have on the fortunes of a high school basketball team.
But if Memorial is able make a deep post-season run, the roots of its success could well be traced to the fourth quarter of its 69-61 win over Bedford in the final of the Queen City Invitational Tournament, Sunday night at the Crusaders’ gym.
Senior point guard Christian Bilolo scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and pulled down 11 rebounds to be named Tournament MVP. Bory Bory (5 assists) and Jack Brooks (10 rebounds, 2 blocks) added 15 points each for Memorial, which trailed by six (44-38) midway through the third quarter.
Tied 50-50 after three quarters, Memorial played lockdown defense to hold the defending tournament (and state) champions scoreless for the first four minutes of the fourth. The Crusaders built a 64-54 lead with 1:50 to play to clinch their sixth Queen City title overall and first since 2017.
“We won (Queen City) the first year I was here, in 2017. Since then, we’ve had four chances in the championship game. It feels good to finally win it and finally bring it home, where it belongs,” said Memorial Head Coach Danny Bryson.
Logan O’Connell hit three 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 19 points for Bedford. Landon Ellsmore added 18.
Bedford led, 34-31, at halftime, thanks in no small part to sloppy play and poor free-throw shooting (3 of 9) on the part of Memorial.
“We hurt ourselves, we missed a bunch of layups,” said Bryson. “But they picked it up. They really picked up the defensive intensity, especially in the fourth quarter. I told them, as we started the fourth, we just have to be one play better.”
Trailing 44-38, midway through the third quarter, Memorial went on an 8-1 lead to grab the lead. Bory scored on a pair of strong drives to the rim and Bilolo knocked down a pair of free throws to put the Crusaders on top, 46-45.
Bedford answered with some aggressive defense of its own. Ellsmore picked Bory’s pocket and went coast-to-coast for a layup to tie the game, 50-50, after three quarters.
That would be as close as Bedford would get to regaining the lead. Led by Ledum Adumene, Bory and Brooks, Memorial’s defense slammed the door on Bedford. The Bulldogs didn’t get their first points of the quarter until a pair of free throws by O’Connell, with 4:10 to play.
Bedford didn’t score it’s first field goal until just over 3:00 remaining on a drive by O’Connell to cut the Memorial lead to 58-54.
But by that point, momentum was solidly on the side of the Crusaders and they were not to be denied.
Bory scored on a backdoor layup off a feed from Adumene, then on a power drive straight down the lane. Bilolo then took over, scoring on a drive into the teeth of the Bedford defense.
On Bedford’s next trip downcourt, Bilolo picked up a steal and went the distance with a thunderous dunk to Memorial lead to 62-54 with just over two minutes remaining.
Memorial’s trip to the title game began with a 56-43 win over Central in the quarterfinals. The Crusaders followed that up with a stunning 73-72 win over Trinity.
Bedford reached the final by clobbering Goffstown (81-66) and Exeter (61-48).
