No. 1 East Grand to battle Woodland

loading...

BANGOR – Redemption was the theme for Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class D boys quarterfinals.

Top-ranked East Grand of Danforth – a 67-61 victor over No. 8 Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook – and No. 5 Woodland – a 76-73 winner against No. 4 Central Aroostook of Mars Hill – both settled some scores on the Bangor Auditorium floor.

East Grand notched the first tournament win ever for the boys program and Woodland, bolstered by 33 points from John Kesel, enjoyed sweet revenge. Now they’ll meet in an 8:35 p.m. Thursday semifinal.

Almost a year ago, Central Aroostook made the pressure unbearable for Woodland as it used a 2-2-1 full-court press to force 27 turnovers and slay the Dragons by 34 points in the semifinals.

Tuesday morning marked the rematch for Woodland. Same press, same early result as the Panthers built an 18-point lead early in the third quarter, only this time, Woodland’s seniors weren’t about to watch a repeat performance.

The Dragons opted to fight fire with fire, using their own full-court press and a redoubled rebounding effort to forge an improbable fourth-quarter comeback and pull out a pulse-pounding thriller.

Talk about turnarounds. This time turnovers plagued Central, which committed 19 of its 26 in the second half. Woodland had 13.

“That’s the best intensity we’ve pressed with all year,” said first-year Woodland coach Mike Look. “We don’t normally press a lot unless we have to, but we had to. I waited as long as I could, but it was time to do something or get off the pot and go home, so we extended it full court.”

Woodland also outrebounded the Panthers 15-6 in the fourth for a 45-40 overall edge. The main reason was the inside play of 6-foot-3 senior forward Frankie Morrison, who grabbed eight of his game-high 16 boards in the fourth.

“We just didn’t box out. All second half, they just killed us on the boards,” said coach Tim Brewer, whose Panthers finish 14-5.

“I knew my shots weren’t falling first half, so I had to go inside, post up, drive and just keep taking it to ’em,” said Morrison, who also had 17 points and five steals.

He and Kesel did just that. Kesel was simply outstanding as he scored 17 of his 33 points in the second half and totaled seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Kesel and fellow senior guard Bob Ferry shredded Central’s vaunted press late.

The loss eclipsed a brilliant effort from senior Craig Allen, who canned five 3-pointers on the way to 35 points and grabbed eight boards.

After using a 16-2 run to tie it 63-all with 3:55 to play, Woodland took its first lead with another run (8-1) to make it 73-66. Then the Panthers scored seven unanswered to tie it again. Woodland won despite going 3-for-6 from the line in the final 18 seconds.

Tuesday afternoon’s game has been eagerly awaited by East Grand coach Troy Cilley and his upperclassmen since they were upset in the quarterfinals last year.

After using a 12-0 run in the second quarter to take a 30-18 lead, things looked good for the Vikings. The Warriors refused to cooperate, however, as they used a 12-1 run at the end of the third to cut a 14-point Vikings lead down to five with 7:20 left in the game.

With the Vikes nursing a 62-59 lead and 28 seconds to go, SAHS’ Nick Hersey fouled out after being whistled for an intentional foul. Starting freshman guard Darius Parker stepped to the line and coolly hit both shots for the last of his game-high 25 points.

“The intentional foul call was a back-breaker,” said Warriors coach Phil Faulkner. “It was a tough call, but it didn’t cost us the game because they played better than us down the stretch.”

Nine seconds later, junior forward Rhett Mortland (11 points) was fouled and also hit both shots to help ice the game for the Vikings, who canned nine of their final 12 foul shots.

Junior guard James Godley paced the Vikes with 17 points, nine assists, and four steals.

Brothers Corey Shields (27 points, 14 boards) and Jordan Shields (21 points, 7 boards) led the Warriors, who wind up 9-11.

Vikings 67, Warriors 61

Southern Aroostook (9-11) East Grand boys (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jos.Holman 3 6 2 5 8 Zugelder 0 0

Edkins 0 0 0 0 0 Ruebsamen 1 2

Wilkins 1 2 0 0 2 Mortland 3 12 5 8 11

J.Shields 8 13 5 8 22 Faulkner 0 0

L.Nadeau 1 5 0 0 2 Godley 6 16 17

McCluskey 0 0 0 0 0 Parker 7 14 10 25

C.Shields 13 16 1 2 27 Byers 6 11 12

Hersey 0 2 1 2 1 Gillis 0 0 0

Totals 26 44 9 17 61 Totals 23 55 18 26 67

Southern Aroostook 16 24 43 61

East Grand 14 38 48 67

3-pt. goals: Southern Aroostook (1-3): J. Shields 1-1, C. Shields 0-1, Nadeau 0-1; East Grand (3-13): Parker 2-7, Godley 1-6

Dragons 76, Panthers 73

Woodland boys (15-5) Central Aroostook (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

J.Kesel 13 24 5 10 33 Grew 2 3 5

Ferry 1 8 3 6 6 Durost 3 5 8

Lord 5 11 5 8 15 Bradstreet 1 7 5

Gillespie 1 4 0 2 3 Clark 1 2 2

Morrison 5 16 7 10 17 Brewer 0 0 0

Nicholas 0 6 2 2 2 Allen 12 27 35

Woodworth 2 4 4

Codrey 6 10 2 14

Totals 25 69 22 38 76 Totals 27 58 11 15 73

Woodland 10 28 50 76

Central Aroostook 22 42 59 73

3-pt. goals: Woodland (4-18): J. Kesel 2-9, Gillespie 1-1, Ferry 1-5, Nicholas 0-1, Morrison 0-2; Central Aroostook (8-18): Allen 5-14, Durost 2-2, Grew 1-1, Woodworth 0-1