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There came a time, somewhere early in the second half, when you almost expected Mountain Valley superstar guard Andy Bedard to step up and announce, “from the Holiday Inn parking lot, off Paul Bunyan’s hat, through the Bangor Auditorium doors, off the scoreboard, nothing but net.”
It was that type of night for Bedard, the 6-foot-1 junior point guard for Coach Matt Kaubris’ Falcons, who splashed the nets for a record-breaking 53 points en route to Mountain Valley’s 84-71 drubbing of the Camden-Rockport Windjammers on Friday night.
There was a lot more at stake than just a Big Mac, though. This was about a gold basketball, which would signify the state Class B champion for 1994. And don’t let the final score fool you. This one wasn’t even that close.
The estimated 4,000 fans who braved Friday’s snowstorm to make it to the Auditorium ended up watching one of the greatest one-man shows in tournament history. Included in Bedard’s offensive arsenal were: one 27-foot 3-pointer, one 25-footer, six more 3’s from beyond the 19-9 stripe, plus an array of driving layups and pull-up jumpers from all sorts of angles.
When it was over Bedard had set a state record for most points in a state-title game and most 3-pointers (8) in a title and/or tournament game. He also tied Bill Burney’s 25-year-old tourney record of 53 points. Burney played for Cony of Augusta.
“He can shoot from anywhere he wants, absolutely anywhere he wants,” said Kaubris. “He’s capable, in any big game, of stepping it up a notch. He’s got the green light to do anything he wants on the floor. His creative abilities just take over a game.”
“Coach gives me a lot of freedom and I appreciate that,” Bedard said. “When I first came out, I missed my first four shots and I thought it was going to be one of those nights where I just drove the lane and dished it off. Then I started getting it going and it felt pretty good.”
Bedard hit 17 of 31 field goals (55 percent) and also grabbed nine rebounds, dished out five assists, and had two steals.
It was his second-quarter effort which gave the Falcons the victory.
With MV leading by 11 entering the second, Bedard hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points in the second quarter as the Falcons built a 43-24 halftime lead.
After a turnaround baseline jumper by C-R’s Mike Geisler cut the MV lead to 18-9 at the start of the quarter, Bedard scored on a pull-up jumper from the foul line, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and a coast-to-coast layup off a defensive rebound to make it 25-9.
After C-R’s Adam Dayon scored off a steal, Bedard grabbed another defensive rebound and went endline-to-endline for a 20-point lead (29-9) with five minutes still left before halftime.
Geisler slowed the bleeding with another turnaround, but Bedard, dogged by Cory MacDonald’s good defensive effort on the other end, finally got the ball out by the left hash mark, took two dribbles toward the hoop and launched a 27-foot bomb that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.
Even after Cam-Rock answered that with an Ian McKenzie free throw and two Geisler hoops, Bedard hit a 24-footer, a pull-up 3-pointer in transition, and a 25-footer to push the Mountain Valley lead to 41-16.
The Windjammers were officially buried at sea by that point.
“When he started making shots from beyond the NBA 3-point range, the score just kept going,” said Geisler, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds. “In the second half, we were out of it.”
Shawn Spadea added 10 points for the Falcons while Steve Gonzales grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
Corey Staples led Cam-Rock with 18 points while 6-7 junior center Dale Landrith added 17 points and 18 rebounds. Ben Laukka chipped in with 13 more.
With Bedard the main focus of the offense, Mountain Valley got superb defensive performances from frontcourt players Gonzales, Spadea, and Micah Cormier.
The threesome effectively took Cam-Rock’s frontcourt out of the game while the Falcons grabbed their big lead.
“Our big men worked so hard tonight,” said Bedard. “They played their hearts out, boxing out that 6-7 guy (Landrith). They shut him down pretty good.”
“We take pride in our defense,” said Kaubris. “The kids realize defense wins championships. We figured Geisler was the go-to guy and we had to box out Landrith.”
Falcons 84, Windjammers 71
Mountain Valley boys Camden-Rockport
Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP
Gonzales 5 1 2 0 2 Laukka 15 5 2 0 13
Bedard 31 17 17 11 53 Staples 17 7 0 0 18
Boudreau 6 2 3 2 6 McKenzie 7 1 4 1 3
Dayon 3 2 0 0 4 Landrith 9 5 9 7 17
Spadea 7 5 8 0 10 Geisler 18 7 1 0 14
Cormier 4 2 1 0 4 MacDonald 2 1 2 1 3
West 1 0 2 0 0 Travers 1 0 4 3 3
Carrier 0 0 0 0 0 Sallinen 0 0 0 0 0
Dore 2 1 0 0 2 Hart 0 0 0 0 0
New 0 0 0 0 0 Dailey 0 0 0 0 0
Callahan 3 0 0 0 0 Crabtree 0 0 0 0 0
Foreman 2 1 1 0 3 Clark 0 0 0 0 0
Haynes 0 0 0 0 0 Weatherwax 1 0 0 0 0
Marston 0 0 0 0 0
Jorgensen 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 64 31 34 13 84 Totals 70 26 22 12 71
Mountain Valley 18 43 66 84
Camden-Rockport 7 24 45 71
3-pt. goals: Mountain Valley (9-21): Bedard 8-17, Foreman 1-1, Boudreau 0-2, Callahan 0-1; Camden-Rockport (7-15): Staples 4-9, Laukka 3-5, Landrith 0-1.
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