Alvirne's Garrett Hall loses the handle against Merrimack's Chris Valluzzi (22) during Friday night's Divison I clash in Merrimack. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

MERRIMACK – Alvirne High School boys basketball coach Sam Bonney-Liles was OK with the Merrimack Tomahawks hitting 13 3-pointers on Friday night at the H. Dana Taylor Gym.

Why? Because Tomahawks scoring sensation Nate Johnson didn’t have any of them.

That and the fact the Broncos could do what they wanted in driving to the hoop combined for a 71-59 Alvirne victory.

“We were cool with giving up 3’s, as long as Nate Johnson didn’t get any,” Bonney-Liles said. “That was our primary focus and we did a great job on him. We were in a 2-3 (zone) and just packed it in. … Nate Johnson’s their heart and soul, he’s a helluva player. I thought we did a great job containing him tonight.”

How good? Johnson finished with just two points, and that had to be a season low. Now the Hawks’ Brody Towle was on fire to the tune of 25 points on seven treys, but Merrimack just couldn’t put a dent in 9-5 Alvirne’s double-digit lead.

Why? Garrett Hall led the Broncos with 22 points, hitting from the outside but also scoring almost at will inside.

“He was a beast tonight,” Bonney-Liles said. “Love the kid to death. He was huge for us. I’m just happy he had a good night. He was huge.”

He and another key athlete, junior Ulysses Kangar, dominated in the paint with 15 points.

“We have a height and size advantage on a lot of teams,” Hall said, “and we try to take advantage of that.”

“We couldn’t do anything on defense, we were awful, just awful,” Merrimack coach Austin Denton said. “That’s what the game came down to. Awful.”

Now the ‘Hawks were on their second game in 24 hours, but Denton said that’s no excuse. “I’m sure these kids played three games in a day,” he said. “It just came down to defense.”

It was 23-19 Broncos in the second quarter but then the put on a 15-5 run, including scoring the last 10 points of the half, to establish control with a 38-24 lead. A steal on an inbounds pass led to a buzzer beating trey by Alex Bettencourt, a killer from the 6-9 Tomahawks perspective.

It was 54-41 after three; the ‘Hawks were threatening to make it a game, down 58-48 midway through the final quarter but an Alvirne 8-2 run took care of that threat. Game over.

The Broncos did all that without key player Sean Chipfunde, out with a hamstring injury. “We miss Sean, but it’s giving an opportunity for guys to get more minutes. Cam Sinclair ‘s been phenomenal for us,” Bonney-Liles said. “Alex Bettencourt’s gotten a lot more comfortable playing varsity, Amri Ofori is just a Honeybadger, so it’s good for those guys to get meaningful minutes. As long as we’re playing good ball at the end of the month that’s all that matter.”

Merrimack’s Owen Ponder puts up a shot in the second half of Friday night’s game vs.Alvirne in the H. Dana Taylor Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

Merrimack, meanwhile, is entering the danger zone. The ‘Hawks are in a dogfight for the last couple of spots in the tourney; keep an eye on that season ending game the morning of Feb. 24 here vs. Nashua North, currently also 6-9. “That might be the game for the playoffs,” Denton said.

Meanwhile, how good can this Alvirne team be?

“Best in the state, for sure,” Hall said. “If we’re just playing defense, and don’t turn the ball over, have energy, I don’t know how many teams could beat us.”

Merrimack, it turns out last night, wasn’t one of them.