Bike rallies Trinity past Memorial, 63-61, for Queen City Tournament title

MANCHESTER, NH — When they met earlier this month in a regular season game, Trinity High steamrolled Memorial by 24 points.

Facing each other less than two weeks later, in the same Memorial Gym, with the Queen City Christmas Tournament title on the line, both head coaches had the same message for their teams — don’t expect the same result.

The coaches were right.

On Tuesday night, the host Crusaders (1-4) gave the unbeaten Pioneers (5-0) everything they could handle, and then some. Trinity needed an 17-point second half from sophomore guard Tyler Bike and a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch from senior guard Andrew Politi, to rally past Memorial, 63-61, and claim the 2021 Queen City Christmas Tournament championship.

“We squeezed it out,” said Trinity Coach Keith Bike. “We had three guys who play a lot who were (absent) from both games. I thought (junior) Brian Mokua and (senior) Alex Mulkigian) game in and did a great job for us. And then we had (freshman) Shawn O’Neil come in and get a basket and that got the crowd going for us.”

Tyler Bike finished 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals to lead Trinity. Politi had 14 points (11 in the first half) and 9 rebounds, while sophomore Mark Nyomah chipped in with 11. Nyomah played nearly the entire second half four fouls. Coach Keith Bike said that with Memorial threatening to pull away in the third quarter, he needed Nyomah back on the floor and risk him fouling out.”

“That was big for (Nyomah). I was telling my assistant, ‘I’ve gotta put him out there.’ (Memorial) had built a little bit of a lead,” said Bike. “He got a few key baskets for us and he didn’t foul. He played very hard for the second half with four fouls, which is very difficult to do.”

Memorial forward Troy Jutras used his 6-6 frame to dominate the paint, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds and a blocked shot to lead the Crusaders. Senior guard Tyler Lavallee, added 17 points, including 15 in the second half and four steals.

“That’s why (Lavallee) is our captain,” said Memorial Coach Danny Bryson. “He’s our energy guy. We call him ‘the dog.’ He does all the dirty work. His energy is unparalleled.”

Lavallee put his team on his back in the fourth quarter, with his strong play on both ends of the floor. His power drive gave Memorial a 43-41 lead. Later, he picked off an errant pass and went the length of the floor for a layup to extend the Crusaders’ lead to 46-41 and force Bike to call timeout.

The timeout had its desired effect. Trinity sophomore forward Max Shosa (6 points, 7 rebounds 3 blocks) drained a 3-pointer to ignite a 14-4 run, giving the Pioneers a 55-50 lead with three minutes left in regulation. The run was capped by a 3-pointer from Politi, his only points of the half, as Memorial did an excellent job denying him clean looks and making him work hard for the ball.

Down five and needed a lift, Memorial got one, once again, from Lavallee. The speedy senior scored off a nifty feed from Johnny Roumraj, to cut the deficit to three. On Trinity’s next possession, Lavallee stole another pass, went the length of the floor for the layup, and drew a foul on Poiliti to turn it into a 3-point play, tying the game, 55-55, with 1:52 remaining.

Now it was Tyler Bike’s turn to put his undermanned team on his back, scoring his team’s next eight points, including four off steals, to give Trinity a 63-59 lead with 16 seconds left on the clock.

“It’s good to have a player like that who can make baskets when you need them,” said Keith Bike. “He did that a little bit the other night in the third quarter and then last night, as well. Our offense was just a little out of rhythm.”

A pair of free throws by Roumraj (12 points) got Memorial within a pair at 63-61, but that was as close as the Crusaders could get.

Going into Tuesday’s tournament final, Trinity had owned the city public schools, beating all three this season by an average of 26 points. This included a 72-48 rout of Memorial less than weeks previous. It looked like fans might be in for a repeat performance, as the Pioneers jumped out to an 11-point lead, 22-11, early in the second quarter.

Memorial fought hard to stay within shouting distance and not allow the high octane Pioneers run away with the game. Two free throws from Lavallee and a 3-pointer from Roumraj cut the Trinity lead to 29-25 just before halftime. Trinity senior Quinton Pincoske answered with a bomb of his own from behind the arc and the Pioneers took a 32-26 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same, as Memorial’s offense was sparked by an aggressive halfcourt zone trap, which forced numerous turnovers by Trinity. The Pioneers finished the 16 turnovers, with most coming against the half-court trap. Keith Bike admitted he was surprised and frustrated watching his club be sloppy with the basketball.

“I was surprised, especially with the guards we have,” said Bike. “I told them at halftime, ‘you guys are playing like this is the first time you’ve ever seen a zone,”

Games in the Queen City Tournament do not count in the Division standings. Trinity is back in action Monday, Jan. 3, at home against Londonderry. Memorial is back on the court Monday, Jan. 3, at home against Timberlane.