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BANGOR – It’s a testament to just how good the Piscataquis boys are that the Pirates of Guilford have made it look easy while advancing through a deep Eastern Maine Class C tournament jammed full of dangerous teams.
The multi-faceted and unbeaten Pirates got another big night out of big man Buddy Leavitt and a stiflingly effective team effort on defense to win their second straight game by 20 or more points, this time 66-46 over a solid Hodgdon club at the Bangor Auditorium Friday night.
Top-ranked Piscataquis, now 20-0, advances to meet No. 2 Calais in a 9 p.m. title game Saturday night.
The Pirates used a box-and-one defensive scheme to keep explosive Hawks forward Tyler Putnam in check as 5-foot-10 junior guard Keith Dawson (15 points, five rebounds) stuck on Hodgdon’s 6-3 junior all night.
“He did a really good job,” said Hodgdon coach Rob Moran. ” Tyler had to work for everything he got.”
What he got was 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots, but that wasn’t enough to overcome the effort turned in by Leavitt.
Despite early foul trouble, PCHS’ rangy 6-6 center finished with 19 points, 14 boards and two blocks.
Leavitt was whistled for his third foul with 3:28 left in the first half, but PCHS coach Jamie Russell elected to keep him in and stick with his game plan.
“When Buddy got into foul trouble, I thought it was best to stay in the box-and-one when he was in the game. I didn’t want him matching up,” Russell explained.
Russell wasn’t overly concerned about Hodgdon’s outside shooting game foiling the box-and-one and his gamble paid off as the Hawks shot 1-for-10 beyond the arc for the game.
The box-and-one minimized the Pirates’ weaknesses and maximized their strengths, helping the them better rebound with four big guys around the lane and its weakest rebounder on the move.
“Keith isn’t known for his rebounding abilities, but he’s our best defensive player,” Russell said. “He did a great job harassing Putnam, staying on the boards, and keeping Putnam off the glass.”
Putnam wasn’t the only one kept off the glass as the Pirates outrebounded the Hawks 17-9 on the offensive boards and 47-30 overall.
They thrashed us on the glass on both ends. I think they had 13 offensive rebounds at halftime and we had a couple,” Moran said. “And when we did get good looks, and we had some, we were missing layups and easy shots. Against a team like that, you’ve got to make those.”
Leavitt deflected credit for his inside play to the job turned in by the Pirates’ young guard corps: junior Kyle Pulkkinen (nine points, six assists), Dawson (16 points, five boards), and senior reserve Scott DeCastro (eight points, six rebounds).
“They did a great job. Keith shot the ball really well, Kyle worked it inside well and DeCastro always does good,” Leavitt said.
Hawks center Jeremy Kervin (eight points, eight boards) was held below his scoring average while fellow senior Matt London had 11 points and four boards.
Pirates 66, Hawks 46
Hodgdon (16-4) Piscataquis (20-0)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Day 0 1 0 0 0 Hoffman 0 0 1 1
Sanford 0 1 0 0 0 White 0 0 0
Griffin 1 4 2 2 4 Pulkkinen 4 9
Blanchette 1 3 0 1 2 DeCastro 4 8
Nickerson 0 0 0 0 0 Dawson 7 19 16
Putnam 7 12 2 3 16 Smith 2 3 4
E. Bither 0 3 0 0 0 Martell 0 1 0
Williams 0 1 0 0 0 Leavitt 8 14 19
A. Bither 2 7 0 0 5 St. Louis 1 2
Kervin 4 12 0 2 8 Watson 0 0 0
London 4 7 3 6 11 Carson 0 0 0
Burgess 2 8 1 5
Tracy 1 1 0 2
Totals 19 51 7 14 46 29 63 10 66
Hodgdon 14 28 34 46
Piscataquis 19 33 48 66
3-pt. goals: Hodgdon (1-10): A. Bither 1-4, Blanchette 0-1, Williams 0-1, Griffin 0-2, Putnam 0-2; Piscataquis (4-11): Leavitt 2-3, Pulkkinen 1-3, Dawson 1-5
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