Sunday’s victory consoles MCI

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PITTSFIELD – After a heartbreaking one-point loss in its first-round game Saturday night, the Maine Central Institute postgraduate basketball team was less than thrilled to play in the consolation game of its own tournament, the MCI Invitational.

But the Huskies made the most of the opportunity in front of a small crowd and a few college scouts, including Maine coach John Giannini, to post a 93-83 victory over Notre Dame Prep of Fitchburg, Mass., Sunday.

Coach Karl Henrikson’s team improves to 9-1.

Bridgton Academy of North Bridgton won the tournament with a 92-71 win over St. Thomas More of Oakdale, Conn., in Sunday’s championship game. Six-foot-three guard Drew Schifino of Bridgton scored 36 points in the championship game and was named the tournament’s MVP.

Dawan Robinson, who is uncommitted to a college but is being recruited by Boston University and La Salle, was MCI’s only representative on the all-tourney squad. The 6-3 guard led the Huskies with 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting Sunday and scored 22 in the loss Saturday.

“We felt like we had to come and put that last game behind us and do what we had to do for this game,” he said of Saturday’s 75-74 loss to Bridgton. “… [Sunday’s win was] all a team effort. We knew we had to go in, rebound and box out, lock up on their point guards.”

Robinson also made five of his nine free-throw attempts. That was typical of the team’s effort -unremarkable free-throw shoting, but enough to help seal the win.

The Huskies’ ability to get to the charity stripe was key. They went 22-for-35 from the free-throw line, while Notre Dame was just 9-for-16.

The Crusaders were most effective on the break, and they managed to chip into MCI’s lead with transition offense. Down 29-13, Notre Dame went on a 10-2 run that started with two straight baskets off steals.

“That’s what we stress, pressure, man-to-man defense all the time, pressuring the ball out-of-bounds, denying them the ball, and we score a lot of points off of it,” said Tony Wright, coach of the 3-2 Crusaders. “Tonight, we played defense that way and made the game respectable against a very good MCI team.”

Notre Dame stayed within nine points of MCI until the Huskies closed out the first half with a run of their own.

Missouri-bound Travon Bryant threw down a dunk, and two possessions later stole the ball and passed it to Anthony Ross for another basket. Laurence Pruitt scored on a driving basket and Robinson wrapped up the half when he converted a conventional 3-point play with 14 seconds left. At that point MCI had a 47-31 lead.

Robinson said the Huskies knew they had to cut down on the bad passes and turnovers.

“We [were] making stupid turnovers. That was the main point,” he said. “Mostly we just had to get into our positions and do what we had to do. … It wasn’t like they were causing the turnovers. They were mostly mental turnovers and that’s why we kept them in the game.”

Henrikson’s subs got significant playing time in the second half, which helped Notre Dame’s Jamaal Brooks pour in 23 of his game-high 34 points.

The MCI bench accounted for 42 points, including six from Christopher Howell of Nobleboro.

MCI connected on 52.3 percent of its field-goal attempts.

Bryant added 11 points but was in position for a lot more if not for trouble finishing shots and knee problems. The 6-foot-9 California native went 5-for-12 from the field.

Bridgton’s Stetson Hairston and Julian Sensley of St. Thomas More were also named to the all-tournament team.

On Saturday, the Huskies had a two-point lead with 10 seconds left when Schifino grabbed the rebound from a missed Glenn Batemon free-throw attempt. Schifino took the ball outside and drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to lift Bridgton Academy to a 75-74 win.

Hairston scored 12 for the Wolverines.

MCI’s Patrick Lottin added 15 points and Bryant scored 11, including 10 in the second half.

Wolverines 75, Huskies 74

Bridgton MCI

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Schifino 8 20 5 9 23 Robinson 7 12 5 9 20

Hairston 3 6 6 6 12 Land 3 5 0 0 6

Murgo 0 1 0 0 0 Howell 0 1 0 0 0

Leahy 3 3 3 3 10 Zndmn-Zmn 0 1 1 2 1

Davis 4 5 0 0 8 Ross 2 2 2 4 7

Monroe 1 6 4 4 6 Whyte 0 2 1 2 1

McCarthy 0 0 0 0 0 Parish 2 5 0 0 4

Grace 0 1 2 4 2 Smith 2 9 1 2 6

Coleman 0 0 0 0 0 Pruitt 0 0 2 2 2

Konare 2 4 0 0 4 Bryant 4 7 4 7 12

Batemon 4 6 2 6 10 Lottin 5 7 3 4 15

Totals 25 52 22 32 75 Totals 25 51 19 32 74

Bridgton 34 75

MCI 36 74

3-pt. goals: Bridgton (3-5): Schifino 2-2, Leahy 1-1, Monroe 0-1, Grace 0-3; MCI (5-15): Lottin 2-3, Robinson 1-4, Ross 1-1, Smith 1-5, Parish 0-2

Attendance: 175 (est.)

Huskies 93, Crusaders 83

Notre Dame (3-2) MCI (9-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Cunningham 3 11 0 0 6 DelCuore 1 2 4 4 6

Tijerina 3 5 0 0 7 Robinson 9 13 3 4 23

Starks 3 6 2 2 8 Niewenhuyzen 0 0 0 0 0

Gardenhire 0 5 0 0 0 Land 0 1 0 0 0

DeGroat 2 3 1 2 5 Howell 2 7 2 2 6

Bell 0 2 0 0 0 Brault 0 0 1 4 1

Wilson 0 1 0 0 0 Trent 2 2 4 5 8

Brooks 14 21 3 5 34 Zndmn-Zmn 2 3 3 8 7

Vick 3 6 0 3 6 Ross 3 4 0 0 6

Davis 5 12 3 4 13 Whyte 0 0 0 0 0

Jabkiewicz 2 3 0 0 4 Parish 2 6 0 0 4

Smith 2 3 1 2 5

Pruitt 4 6 1 2 9

Bryant 5 12 1 2 11

Lottin 2 6 2 2 7

Totals 36 75 9 16 83 Totals 34 65 22 35 93

Notre Dame 31 83

MCI 47 93

3-pt. goals: Notre Dame (4-11): Brooks 3-7, Tijerina 1-1, Starks 0-1, Gardenhire 0-1, DeGroat 0-1; MCI (3-8): Robinson 2-2, Lottin 1-4, Parish 0-2

Attendance: 150 (est.)