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BANGOR – The Lawrence boys basketball team went on a 14-0 run in the first and second quarters and held Cony of Augusta scoreless from the field for over 10 minutes in the first half. As a result, the No. 4 Bulldogs of Fairfield knocked off the No. 1 Rams 70-54 in an Eastern Maine Class A semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium Friday night.
Lawrence, now 17-3, will face No. 3 Bangor, a 62-55 winner over No. 2 Skowhegan, for the Eastern Maine championship at approximately 9 p.m. tonight. The Rams finish their season at 18-2.
Cony had beaten Lawrence twice in the regular season, once by 18 points and once by five. But the Bulldogs finally figured out the Rams in the right place and the right game.
“We had to get a lead,” Lawrence coach Mike McGee said. “We played from behind in the past two games. And we had to handle their pressure.”
For the first 5 1/2 minutes, the Bulldogs weren’t able to do either of those things. Cony dictated the pace four seconds into the game with a fast-break basket by Jared Cushman.
The Rams had an 11-6 lead when Cony’s Brett Ulmer stole the ball in the Lawrence backcourt and passed it to Josh Cushman. Ulman cut to the basket, Cushman handed the ball right back to him and Ulmer laid down a dunk that brought the Cony fans to their feet.
But the shot that was supposed to ignite the Rams instead lit a fire under Lawrence.
The Bulldogs slowed the game to their tempo, allowed only one more Cony basket in the first period, and tied the game at 19-19 with a Jason Underwood 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“We got together the next time we could [after the dunk] and said we couldn’t let them have those fast breaks,” said 6-foot-7 center Jed Johnson, who finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds.
Cony didn’t get anything else until Jared Cushman hit a jump shot in the lane with 54 seconds left in the first half to make the score 34-24. Lawrence outscored the Rams 17-6 in the second quarter.
“We thought we could control the tempo,” Cony coach Bruce Hunt said. “I thought after we got out fast we could loosen up.”
Cony was still able to force turnovers off its vaunted press and man-to-man defense. But the Rams shot 40 percent from the field.
“We had plenty of good looks,” Hunt said. “I don’t think we’ve ever shot that poorly. And when we got to the line, we didn’t make our free-throws.”
The Rams got close several times. The first hoop of the fourth quarter came off a drive to the basket by Cony’s Ryan Moore to cut Lawrence’s lead to 48-39.
But just as they did after Ulmer’s dunk, the Bulldogs slowed down, spread the floor, ate up the clock, and Underwood hit a jump shot for an 11-point lead with 5:44 left in the game.
“We kept our poise, we played our game and our defense,” said Underwood, who led both teams with 24 points.
Foul trouble became a problem for Cony in the fourth quarter. Kevin Bunker fouled out with 6:39 left in the game and Josh Cushman had to sit with 40 seconds left.
McGee and the Lawrence bench erupted after Cushman’s fifth foul. The 6-foot-1 guard led the Rams with 17 points and three steals.
“In the second half we wanted to spread the floor, make them come out at us,” McGee said.
Randy Nadeau went 4-for-4 from the floor in the third quarter en route to 11 points for Lawrence. He also had seven rebounds.
Junior guard Josh Berard had five assists, including three in the third quarter. Two of those were passes to Johnson.
“We needed to take advantage of Jed,” McGee said. “When we finally did that, we were able to get ahead.”
Bulldogs 70, Rams 54
Lawrence boys (17-3) Cony (18-2)
Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP
Bolduc 3 3 0 0 6 Young 1 4 5 6 7
Underwood 7 14 9 13 24 Ja. Cushman 4 12 1 5 9
Berard 1 2 0 0 2 Brunelle 0 1 0 0 0
Kent 0 0 0 0 0 Moore 2 8 4 10 8
Smith 0 2 0 0 0 M. Bunker 0 0 0 0 0
MacArthur 0 0 0 0 0 Jo. Cushman 7 11 3 3 17
Pelletier 0 0 0 0 0 Dean 0 0 1 2 1
Johnson 4 7 12 14 20 K. Bunker 3 9 1 2 8
Knights 0 0 0 0 0 Ulmer 2 2 0 0 4
Teague 0 1 0 0 0 Sousa 0 0 0 0 0
Brown 2 4 0 0 5
Roderick 0 0 0 0 0
Clement 1 2 0 2 2
Nadeau 5 6 1 3 11
Totals 23 41 22 32 70 Totals 19 47 15 28 54
Lawrence 19 36 48 70
Cony 19 25 37 54
3-pt. goals: Lawrence (2-6): Underwood 1-3, Smith 0-1, Brown 1-2; Cony (2-16): Young 1-3, Ja. Cushman 0-5, Jo. Cushman 0-2, K. Bunker 1-6
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