DEXTER – For the last two weeks, the Penquis Patriots have been battling two opponents on a regular basis: whichever team they happened to be playing and sickness.

Flu, common cold, bronchitis … Seemingly everything but the bubonic plague has swelled the absentee lists at Milo’s Penquis High School since the new year began, but the worst may finally be over.

After struggling through some games without one or two key players and suffering a tough loss to Piscataquis of Guilford last weekend, the Patriots looked like the picture of health Tuesday night as they cut into a solid Dexter team with surgical precision en route to a 63-54 victory at Guiski Gymnasium.

“We beat them in overtime at home and struggled in that game, so to come over here and play as well as we did for three quarters was encouraging,” said Penquis coach Tony Hamlin, whose defending Class C state champs improve to 9-3.

Thanks in large part to a superb effort from senior forward Jeremy Allen, who finished with a triple-double (19 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists), and a breakout performance from senior center Matt Heal, who had a season-high 17 points, the Pats only trailed once in the game – 2-0 just 10 seconds after the opening tip.

“The Heal kid had his career game,” said Dexter coach Peter Murray. “Before tonight, there’ve been two guys carrying that team, and everyone knows what’s coming, but they can’t do anything about it.”

The Patriots hit the court in full sprint after the national anthem, shooting a scalding 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from the floor in the first quarter as they took a 17-10 lead. Things didn’t get any tamer for the Tigers in the second quarter either as Penquis used a 12-0 run to go up 35-17 with 1:42 left before halftime to take firm control of the game.

“It felt really good out there the first half. It felt like we were back in the groove,” said Pats junior guard Ben Knapp, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. “We came out pretty pumped up and there ain’t nothing that’s going to bring us down when we come out like that.”

Murray, whose Tigers are 9-5, saw nothing untrue about that statement.

“They didn’t do anything we weren’t expecting, but knowing it and being able to deal with it are two different things,” he said. “They’re a physical, aggressive team so if you try to finesse them, you’re not going to have much success.”

The Tigers weren’t going to have much offensive success the way the Patriots simply smothered them with a tight, man-to-man defense – something that surprised Hamlin.

“We have not been playing good man-to-man for a long time. We’ve played mostly zone this year,” said Hamlin. “That was as good a first half defensively as we’ve played.”

Penquis upped its lead to 47-31 late in the third before the Tigers scored six in a row to start the fourth. After trading baskets, the Tigers went on another 6-0 run to cut Penquis’ lead to six (51-45) with 2:44 to play, but with time running out, Dexter had to foul and the Patriots made 10 of 13 free throws down the stretch to seal things up.

Dexter was led by senior center Ben Robinson (16 points, six rebounds, three steals), sophomore guard Travis Patterson (14 points) and senior forward Matt Foster (11 points).

Penquis outrebounded Dexter 31-23 overall and committed 16 turnovers – 13 in the second half – to Dexter’s 10.

Patriots 63, Tigers 54

Penquis (9-3) Dexter (9-5)

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

Knapp 6 12 1 2 15 Patterson 6 14 14

Leonard 1 3 0 2 2 Cooley 0 1 0 0

Ladd 0 0 0 0 0 Robichaud 2 2 4

Webb 1 1 5 6 7 Robinson 6 12 16

Gillis 1 2 1 2 3 Clukey 3 8 0 6

Grindle 0 0 0 0 0 Foster 4 8 2 11

Allen 3 11 13 14 19 Paige 1 6 1 3

Heal 8 12 1 1 17 Roach 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 41 21 27 63 Totals 22 51 7 54

Penquis 17 36 47 63

Dexter 10 21 31 54

3-pt. goals: Penquis (2-5): Knapp 2-4, Allen 0-1; Dexter (3-9): Patterson 2-5, Foster 1-2, Robinson 0-1, Clukey 0-1

Attendance: 750 (est.)

Preliminary: Penquis JVs 46-39