Leavitt propels East C-D Pelotte tastes defeat; West A-B victorious

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BANGOR – It was decidedly unfamiliar territory for Nick Pelotte.

For the first time in almost 100 organized high school games spanning four seasons, the point guard from Valley High School of Bingham experienced the sting of defeat after his West C-D team was beaten decisively by the East 86-68 in the first of Saturday’s 21st annual Maine McDonald’s Boys East-West Senior All-Star Games.

In the second game at Husson College’s Newman Gym, the West A-B stars downed the East 83-72.

Pelotte seemed slightly bewildered and obviously peeved after Saturday’s early afternoon game.

“He’s a competitive player and I don’t think he liked that very much, but oh well,” said Piscataquis of Guilford forward-center Buddy Leavitt, who hit five of eight 3-pointers and led the East with 19 points. “It seemed like everything was going in for us in the first quarter and we never really looked back.”

Not everything went in, but 57.9 percent of the East’s shots did as they drained 11 of 19 in the first quarter and scored 15 unanswered points to roar out to a 35-14 lead midway through the second.

“You don’t like to lose in anything you do, especially this because it was kind of one-sided, but I still had fun,” Pelotte said. “It was good experience and I thought I played pretty decent.”

Decent doesn’t do him justice. The 5-foot-10 roadrunner in sneakers dished out six assists and made six steals (both game highs), scored 11 points and grabbed four rebounds.

It still wasn’t enough to offset the East’s surging attack, though, as the West was unable to get closer than seven points in the last 18 minutes.

The key for the East was versatility as the guards helped with the rebounding, the forwards helped on the perimeter, and everyone spread the ball around.

“It definitely makes things a lot easier with great players all around you, and if you play an all-around game, it makes things easier too,” said Jeremy Allen, Penquis of Milo’s 6-3 forward.

Allen was solid all-around with eight points, five boards, four assists, and three steals.

So were swingmen Mike Hardy from Sumner of East Sullivan and Chad Gervais from Wisdom of St. Agatha, who opened some eyes with their impressive, unselfish and versatile play.

The 6-3 Hardy finished with nine points and 10 rebounds to lead the East to a 39-33 rebounding edge and the 6-1 Gervais had 12 points, five boards, and three steals – two against Pelotte.

Both said they wanted to show what small-school players and both had plenty of time to get motivated as Hardy’s Tigers lost in the Class C quarterfinals and Gervais’ Pioneers lost in the Class D prelims.

“Where we didn’t get far in the tournament, my name didn’t get out as much as Buddy’s and Jeremy’s. That gave me a lot more drive to play today,” said Unity College-bound Gervais. “I just want to help out however I can.”

Freeport’s Matt Soule led the West With 14 points while Dirigo of Dixfield’s Andy Knox and Boothbay’s Mike Leighton had 13 apiece.

In the A-B game, Westbrook guard Jason Levecque scored six of the West’s first nine points en route to a high of 20 as the West never trailed or tied.

“Oh, it’s a blast. It’s kind of like pickup ball,” said Levecque. “We have fun but we also want to win.”

Aiding Levecque was Maine Mr. Basketball and Deering of Portland swingman Jamaal Caterina (12 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Falmouth forward Brandon Barr (10 points, seven boards).

Mt. Blue of Farmington’s Justin Almy led the East with 11 points while Hermon forward Ryan Garland and Cony of Augusta guard Jared Cushman scored 10 each.

It was the high point of an otherwise dreary season for Cushman, who suffered a detached retina which was torn in 14 places after being poked in the eye in Cony’s fifth game of the season.

After undergoing emergency surgery, Cushman missed 13 regular-season games, but came back for two preliminary playoff games.

“I wasn’t in game shape at all. I only scored on layups and foul shots,” said the Colby College-bound Cushman. “That’s why it was a great opportunity to be able to play in this game.

“The coaches voted me in even though I wasn’t able to play most of the year and it felt great to play more like I’m capable of and finish out my career this way.”

Cushman says he has 20-20 vision back with corrective lenses, but he still suffers occasional double vision when he looks to the side or directly down. He expects to be close to 100 percent this spring, however, as he pitches and plays second base for the Rams.

The East’s all-time records are now 8-13 in C-D and 7-14 in A-B.

Saturday morning, juniors Tony Doucette from Brewer and Tiffany Goehringer from Mount View of Thorndike won the boys and girls foul shooting competitions. Doucette hit 46 of 50 and Goehringer knocked in 44 of 50.

West A-B boys 83, East A-B 72

East A-B All-Stars West All-Stars

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

Wolcott 3 5 2 5 8 Barr 4 8 0 10

Walker 4 10 0 2 9 McIver 4 9 0 8

Cushman 5 8 0 0 10 Levecque 8 15 20

Almy 4 7 2 2 11 Wohl 4 10 0 9

Roberts 2 5 0 0 4 Furbush 2 8 0 5

Garland 5 8 0 0 10 Longstaff 3 10 9

Campbell 4 9 0 0 8 O?Tash 1 3 2

Kosmo 0 5 2 2 2 Swan 4 8 0 8

Knutson 3 6 0 0 7 Caterina 6 11 12

Sam 0 7 3 4 3

Totals 30 70 9 15 72 Totals 36 82 3 83

East boys 12 35 54 72

West boys 25 40 60 83

3-pt. goals: East (3-13): Knutson 1-1, Almy 1-2, Walker 1-4, Wolcott 0-1, Garland 0-1, Sam 0-2, Cushman 0-2; West (8-18): Longstaff 3-6, Barr 2-3, Wohl 1-1, Levecque 1-2, Furbush 1-2, McIver 0-1, O?Tash 0-1, Caterina 0-2

Attendance: 700 (est.)

East C-D boys 86, West C-D 68

East C-D All-Stars West All-Stars

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

Shields 1 4 1 2 4 Pelotte 2 7 7 10 11

Gervais 4 12 4 4 12 Knox 5 6 0 13

McCarthy 2 2 0 1 4 Soule 5 9 14

C.Allen 2 6 2 2 7 Fortin 0 2 0 0

Kervin 4 6 0 0 8 Leighton 6 7 13

Hardy 4 6 1 3 9 Mortimer 2 8 5

J.Allen 4 6 0 0 8 Adams 0 6 0 0

Frost 2 7 0 1 4 Finneran 1 3 3

Burgess 4 6 3 4 11 McConnell 1 3 3

Leavitt 6 12 2 2 19 Deetjen 3 8 0 6

Totals 33 67 13 18 86 Totals 25 59 11 18 68

East boys 30 43 65 86

West boys 14 30 52 68

3-pt. goals: East (7-18): Leavitt 5-8, Shields 1-2, C. Allen 1-2, J. Allen 0-1, Frost 0-2, Gervais 0-3; West (7-23): Knox 3-4, Soule 1-1, Finneran 1-2, McConnell 1-2, Mortimer 1-4, Fortin 0-1, Pelotte 0-2, Adams 0-3, Deetjen 0-4

Attendance: 1,000 (est.)