ORONO – Just like his distant cousin in Dicken’s holiday classic “A Christmas Carol,” it was the Ghost of Basketball Future who made the biggest impression at the Orono High School gymnasium on Thursday night.

Robey Rhodes, a much-heralded Red Riot sophomore, hasn’t made many waves since joining this year’s veteran-led Orono basketball team.

But the 3-point tidal wave the 5-foot-11 guard whipped up here Thursday wiped out the visiting Ellsworth Eagles 65-48 and also gave Orono fans a glimpse of the team’s future.

Even those Red Riot roundball Scrooges worried about the team’s two early season losses came away with a happy feeling following Rhodes’ performance.

Rhodes scored a career-high 25 points, on 9-for-11 (82 percent) shooting, including five 3-point buckets as he led the Red Riots into the Christmas break with a 6-2 record.

Ellsworth slipped to 1-5.

Rhodes delivered an early Christmas present for his teammates, coming up with some clutch shots when his team needed them the most.

After building a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, a 5-0 Ellsworth spurt cut the gap to 42-35 with 6:12 left in the game.

Rhodes then converted a conventional 3-point play, blocked an Ellsworth shot, and canned a 17-footer from the baseline on the other end as Orono built up a 47-35 lead with 5:18 left.

Next, he answered an Ellsworth miss by swishing a 3-pointer from the baseline, pushing the lead to an untouchable 50-35.

“I just wanted to step in and do what I could do to help the team,” said Rhodes, who scored 14 of his points in the final eight minutes. “They were playing zone, so I just looked to take the wide open shots.”

And making those shots gave Orono a spark when it needed it the most, Coach Dave Paul said.

“We hadn’t really had an offensive spark that could keep us going, or get us going again, and he certainly did that tonight,” Paul said. “He can play. As long as he plays with confidence and uses his ability without trying to do too much, he’ll be all right. He was a big plus tonight.”

Rhodes’ performance from beyond the 19-foot-9 arc followed up the precedent set by junior teammate Jason White, who burned Ellsworth’s 2-1-2 zone for a trio of 3-point shots in the first quarter as Orono took a 17-8 lead.

Rhodes also canned a pair of 3’s during the first quarter, which set the stage for the game.

Paul was also very pleased with his team’s defense, which held Ellsworth to 37 percent shooting and limited the Eagles to 35 points through the first 28 minutes of the game.

White added 14 points for the Red Riots while Evan Stinson had 10 points, 10 assists, and four steals. Eric Main also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Kurt Harriman paced Ellsworth 14 points while Mike Newman and Mark Hellum, shut down offensively, picked off 11 and nine rebounds, respectively.

Red Riots 65, Eagles 48

Ellsworth Orono

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

LeClerc 3 6 1 4 7 White 5 9 0 0 14

Higgins 4 9 0 0 9 Salvage 0 6 0 0 0

Harriman 5 10 2 2 14 Stinson 3 8 4 5 10

Newman 3 7 0 0 6 Pyle 2 7 1 2 5

Hellum 2 9 3 4 7 Main 3 3 1 4 7

Brown 1 6 0 0 2 Rhoades 9 11 2 3 25

Hodgkins 1 3 1 2 3 Gavett 2 6 0 0 4

McDonald 0 1 0 1 0 Myers 0 2 0 0 0

Lindberg 0 0 0 0 0 Ulrich 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 19 51 7 13 48 Totals 24 53 8 14 65

Ellsworth 8 20 30 48

Orono 17 29 40 65

3-pt. goals: Orono (9-18): Rhodes 5-7, White 4-7, Pyle 0-3, Stinson 0-1; Ellsworth (3-8): Harriman 2-3, Higgins 1-2, Brown 0-2, Hodgkins 0-1.