It was late in the 2^nd quarter and Spaulding High School’s Charlie Nevejans had just hit a high banking shot in the lane that tied the Division 1 boys basketball semi-final between the Red Raiders and Merrimack at 25.  Then, with 50 seconds left in the half, Merrimack coach Tim Goodridge instructed his team to hold for 1 shot ensuring that the Tomahawks would go into the break either tied or with the lead.  Merrimack ran the clock down to the final 10 seconds before Dimitri Floras made his move and nailed a pull up 3 from the right side that sent his team to the locker room up 28-25.  That shot by Floras was his third 3 pointer of the 1^st half and it ignited a game closing 28-14 run for Merrimack the rest of the way that sent the Tomahawks to their 1^st Finals appearance since 2006 with a 53-39 win.  And just like that Championship Game 6 years ago, the Manchester Central Little Green are the opposition thanks to their 59-56 double overtime win against Trinity. 

Floras hit on 4 of his 9 attempts from long range and also knocked down 5 of 6 free throws to lead the charge offensively for Merrimack with 21 points and 6 rebounds.  The last trifecta Floras hit with 2:35 left in the 3^rd capped a 6-0 Merrimack run that opened up an 8 point Tomahawk lead, 39-31.  A few scores later when Jeff Gianelli put in a short turnaround shot in the final seconds of the 3^rd the lead was up to 9 at 43-34 entering the 4^th.  The 6’7” Merrimack center posed problems for the smaller Spaulding frontcourt in his 12 minutes of action off the bench, finishing with 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the floor.  “Jeff Gianelli had a really big game”, coach Goodridge said.  “He hit some HUGE buckets for us tonight.  And that’s what you get with seniors that have been around the program for a long time.  And it’s kind of been like that all year”, said the coach.  “We all know the Gendron’s are good, we all know that Dimitri’s good, it’s the other guys that step up some nights and do some really good things and tonight was Jeff Gianelli’s night.  I thought he did an outstanding job.” 

Credit should also go to Merrimack’s defense as they held Spaulding to only 5 4^th quarter points on 2 field goals.  3 of the points came on a Dominic Paradis top of the arc 3 with 7:05 to play that made it 43-37…but then Spaulding went on a drought over the next 6:20 that finally ended when Paradis converted a short range jumper to make it 51-39 with only 50 seconds left.  The outcome closed the door on Spaulding’s story book run which was not lost on the victorious coach Goodridge…“First off I’ve known Tim Cronin a long time.  I think he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.  I think he’s a great coach.  I thought their team played outstanding.  I saw them the other night against North and I knew this was gonna be a tough out.  They just never go away and they just keep playin, playin, playin.”  Paradis had a double-double in the loss with a team leading 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Nick McGregor was also in double figures with 11 points for Spaulding, but he went scoreless in the 2^nd half as his team shot a woeful 26.1% in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters including 1 for 11 from downtown. 

On a night when senior Tyler Gendron only scored 6 points, it was a lot easier for Merrimack knowing that Floras is returning to form as his high scoring self following the broken wrist that forced him to miss 9 regular season games.  “It’s amazing to be able to go 6, 7 weeks in the middle of the season and not play basketball, and then come in, in this forum and play as well as the young man does”, Goodridge said.  We’ll see if Floras and company can keep it going when the title is on the line Saturday afternoon at 4.