Panthers shut down Royals in EM final

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As far as Central Aroostook coach Steve Shaw is concerned, the Bangor Auditorium’s mythical reputation for chewing up young, inexperienced teams and spitting them out after one game in the limelight is nonsense.

In fact, after his top-seeded squad of primarily sophomores and juniors carved up perennial contender Jonesport-Beals to take a 68-51 win in the Eastern Maine Class D final Saturday, Shaw would have been glad to suit up and hit the hardwood himself.

“This is our home court,” Shaw said. “This is six games in two years here, plus we practice here for two hours every year.”

“We love shooting here,” he added. “Even the coach. I love sticking 3’s on this court. Man, this is user-friendly.”

The old floor was friendly enough to give Central Aroostook of Mars Hill its first Eastern Maine boys title and Shaw his first regional crown since a 1980 win while coaching Easton. CAHS will play Western Maine champ Vinalhaven at the Augusta Civic Center Saturday at 3 p.m.

The Panthers, 20-1, earned the win by doing to the Royals what few teams had done all year: they effectively shut down No. 2 Jonesport-Beals’ inside attack.

Though the Royals’ Tony Beal grabbed 16 rebounds and frontcourt mate Billy Look had 14, running down rebounds was sometimes the only way they could get their hands on the ball.

That was due to a 1-3-1 zone defense Central Aroostook went to in the second quarter, which was extended to put pressure on the wings.

The knock on the 1-3-1 is that it’s vulnerable in Look’s baseline backyard. The 6-foot-1 leaper had gone wild for 35 points and 18 rebounds in J-B’s semifinal win, but Shaw thought intense pressure by the guards would make it difficult to make inside passes.

“We tried to trap the wings outside,” Shaw said. “If we bother them outside, they can’t get the ball in low.”

He was right. The teams battled to a 15-15 tie after one quarter, with CA playing man-to-man.

But in the second, the Panthers moved ahead with a 15-4 run that made it 30-19 three minutes into the quarter. Sophomore Matt Townsend had six of his game-high 21 points during the spurt.

Junior Mike Kenney pulled the Royals within six on a 10-footer with 2:17 left in the half, but the Panthers answered with a stifling defensive display that held J-B without a field goal for the next 10:12.

Jonesport-Beals shot 1-for-17, only 5.9 percent, in the third quarter whilethe Panthers went on a 16-4 spree. By the time Jared Fagonde nailed a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the third, Central Aroostook was up 53-36.

“I don’t know what happened,” Jonesport-Beals coach Ordie Alley said. “We had some shots inside, they just didn’t go in.”

The Royals struggled through 17 percent shooting in the second half on 5-for-28 accuracy.

For Shaw, the third-quarter run was the test of a lesson his high school coach taught him.

“My old coach in high school, Terry Spurling, he said one thing: the ballgame is won in the first four minutes of the second half,” Shaw said.

“And that’s just exactly why we come back out (early from halftime). As soon as we can, we come out. We don’t want to leave anything in the locker room.”

Balance was again the key for the youthful Panthers, as 6-foot-2 junior Tim Brewer augmented Townsend’s effort with 15 points and nine rebounds. And sophomore center Ben Allen scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Townsend said the hero-by-committee approach suits him just fine.

“We try to get everybody involved,” Townsend said. “We’ve got a lot of guns. If they throw those junk defenses on us, we’ve got plenty of people who can step up.”

Jonesport-Beals, 16-5, was led by forward Beal’s 12 points. Look finished with 10, as did Chris Crowley.

Panthers 68, Royals 51

Jonesport-Beals boys Central Aroostook

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Alley 1 0 0 0 0 Mahan 1 0 0 0 0

Dobbins 0 0 3 3 3 Boyd 1 0 0 0 0

R. Crowley 7 0 0 0 0 Orser 3 1 0 0 3

Kenney 3 1 2 1 3 Kearney 1 0 2 1 1

D. Beal 1 0 0 0 0 Brewer 13 5 9 5 15

Look 8 4 7 2 10 Townsend 15 6 11 8 21

T. Beal 11 5 2 2 12 Locke 0 0 0 0 0

Libby 1 0 1 1 1 Allen 13 5 2 0 10

Bean 1 0 0 0 0 Libby 8 4 3 1 9

C. Crowley 9 4 3 2 10 Shaw 7 2 4 4 8

Fagonde 8 2 1 0 5 McDonald 1 0 2 1 1

S. Beal 1 0 0 0 0

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0

Tibbetts 0 0 0 0 0

Peabody 12 3 1 1 7

Totals 63 19 20 12 51 Totals 63 23 33 20 68

Jonesport-Beals 15 29 36 51

Central Aroostook 15 37 53 68

3-pt. goals: Jonesport-Beals (1-10): Alley 0-1, R. Crowley 0-3, Look 0-1, Libby 0-1, Bean 0-1, Fagonde 1-1, Peabody 0-2; Central Aroostook (2-4): Orser 1-1, Townsend 1-3