Caouette, West boys slip by East

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BANGOR — For guys like Corey Fleming, Jon Nichols, Dave Seward, and Nate Richardson, the 16th annual McDonald Senior All-Star Class C-D boys game was their postseason.

This quartet never got a chance to play in the Eastern Maine tournament at the Bangor Auditorium, although Richardson did play in a preliminary playoff game.

So while most of their McDonald’s teammates were out after state titles, they had to wait for their chance at postseason glory.

Their chance finally came Saturday morning as their East team met the best of the West’s C and D players at Husson College. The West used an 8-2 run in the last minute to pull out a 92-84 victory for its 10th win in 16 contests.

“It was real disappointing because we didn’t get a chance to play in the tournament my senior year. When I found out I made the team, it kind of lessened the pain a bit,” said Seward.

The 6-foot-2 guard guard from Summer in East Sullivan made the most of his brief postseason appearance with 12 points, five rebounds, an assist, and a steal.

“That’s the high point of my career for me so far,” said Seward, who plans to attend Williams College this fall. “I felt so comfortable, it was like we’d been playing together a long time.”

The East offset a West size advantage with quick cuts through the lane and baseline. The result was an exciting, nip-and-tuck game. A 12-2 West run starting the third put them up by 13 before a 15-2 East run late in the third drew things even again.

“They did a real good job slashing to the basket. They’ve definitely got their own style,” said Winthrop’s T.J. Caouette, Maine’s Mr. Basketball award winner.

The 6-7 Villanova-bound forward shook off a slow start and finished with a game-high 18 points — 15 in the second half — and 10 boards, but no slam dunks.

In fact, the only dunks of the game were by East players, despite the West’s two-inch average height advantage (6-3 to 6-1).

“No dunks. We didn’t want to get stuffed on,” laughed Narraguagus of Harrington’s Rob Worcester (14 points). “We were severely outsized, but it was a lot of fun.”

John Mills of North Yarmouth Academy also scored 18 for the West. The East was led by Schenck of East Millinocket guard Tom Jamo’s 15 points.

The West outrebounded the East 38-26, 14-5 on the offensive boards.

West C-D boys 92, East 84

West C-D boys East C-D boys

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

Church 2 3 1 2 5 Fleming 2 4 1 2 5

Mullen 2 4 0 0 4 McEachern 1 4 1 2 3

Bodge 2 5 1 2 5 Richardson 2 5 0 0 5

Sterrs 6 9 4 4 17 Seward 4 10 2 2 12

Fasold 5 11 4 5 15 Townsend 0 0 0 0 0

Littlefield 1 6 0 0 2 Nichols 3 11 0 0 7

Helgeson 2 4 2 3 6 Allen 3 9 3 4 9

Mills 5 10 8 10 18 Henderson 6 9 0 0 14

Caouette 7 15 4 5 18 Worcester 6 10 0 0 14

St. Pierre 1 4 0 0 2 Jamo 5 10 5 5 15

Totals 33 71 24 31 92 Totals 32 72 12 15 84

West 19 44 65 92

East 22 38 58 84

3-pt. goals: West (2-8): Mullen 0-1, Bodge 0-1, Sterrs 1-1, Fasold 1-2, Littlefield 0-1, Helgeson 0-1, St. Pierre 0-2; East (8-22): Fleming 0-1, Richardson 1-3, Seward 2-5, Nichols 1-4, Henderson 2-4, Worcester 2-5