Thibodeau leads Old Town to win Indians beat John Bapst in opener

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OLD TOWN – At home, Old Town guard Renee Thibodeau and her brother Jason always have plenty of basketball shooting contests. Jason, a former Old Town High standout, is one of two players who share the Indians’ boys record for most 3-pointers made in a game (seven).

Not to be outdone, Renee Thibodeau knocked down seven 3-pointers of her own to help lead the Old Town girls to a 59-39 victory over John Bapst of Bangor in Friday night’s Class A season-opener at MacKenzie Gym.

“I’ll be telling him about this one,” Thibodeau said with a laugh.

Thibodeau finished with a game-high 32 points and may have tied the girls’ record for most 3-pointers made in a game, too. Former longtime Indians coach Garry Spencer, who was at the game to watch his freshman daughter, Darcy, said he believes the record for the girls is also seven.

Thibodeau was a huge key to Old Town’s second-quarter run, which put the game out of reach for John Bapst. The junior hit 4-of-5 3-point attempts as the Indians outscored the Crusaders 20-4.

“In warm-ups I wasn’t hitting any but [in the game] I knew I had to keep shooting as long as I was open,” she said. “They started going in so I figured I’d just keep shooting.”

Thibodeau’s streak really started at the end of the first quarter when she hit a jumper at the buzzer to break a 13-13 tie.

She opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer. The Crusaders turned the ball over on their next possession, and Old Town’s Sarah Metivier hit a jumper to make it 20-13. After some back-and-forth misses and turnovers, Thibodeau’s next three made shots were all 3-pointers and Old Town went up 29-13.

Of course, defense was a huge part of the run as well. Old Town ran three different full-court presses which coach Greg Thibodeau said he changed every time down the floor.

“We mixed the press almost every trip and they didn’t know if it was zone or man and that helped confuse things,” said Greg Thibodeau, who is not related to Renee. “I think that’s what [helped] us in the beginning.”

The Indians’ 2-3 zone was another big factor. The Crusaders had a frontcourt of 5-foot-9 Lauren Hunter and 6-foot center Casey Ryder (and 5-11 center Emily Picard off the bench). The three combined for 14 points.

Old Town’s tallest starters are 5-9 forwards Hillary Greene (seven rebounds) and Metivier.

“We were having a hard time getting that penetrating pass into the low post, forcing the outside shot,” first-year John Bapst coach Jen Curtis said. “[Old Town] boxed out and we weren’t able to get that rebound to put it back up again. They were really fighting underneath, working hard on defense. Even when we boxed out they would tap it from our hands.”

Meghan Sekera led the Crusaders with 10 points. She sat for most of the second half because of foul trouble, and Bapst struggled without its senior point guard.

Thibodeau was supposed to be the starting off-guard this year, but a preseason injury to senior Kasey Spencer has Greg Thibodeau starting Renee at the point-guard spot. Thibodeau handed out six assists.

Her effort was even more impressive considering that Metivier, who is a 3-point threat, left the game at the end of the first half with a possible thumb sprain.

The Crusaders started the game with a 1-0 lead because just before tip-off the official scorer discovered that the Old Town names and numbers were written incorrectly in the official scorebook. Old Town was issued a technical foul and Sekera made a free throw.

Greg Thibodeau’s son Corey, who played for the University of Maine, shares the boys’ 3-point record with Jason Thibodeau.

INDIANS 59, CRUSADERS 39

John Bapst (0-1) Old Town (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Sturgeon 2 3 0 2 4 Greene 1 3 5

Crotty 3 5 0 0 7 Thibodeau 10 19 5 8 32

Sekera 2 7 4 7 10 Marquis 1 2 2

Miller 0 1 0 0 0 D. Spencer 1 2

Andrle 1 2 0 2 2 Maurais 0 2 0

Mitchell-Storer 0 5 0 0 0 Brown 3 6

Zitaner 1 2 0 0 2 L. Mitchell 0 1

Hunter 3 8 0 0 6 Cole 1 4 2

Ryder 2 4 0 0 4 K. Mitchell 2 5

Picard 0 3 4 11 4 Littlefield 0 Metivier 2 7 0 0 4

Kennedy 0 2 0 0

Totals 14 38 8 22 39 21 55 10 19 59

John Bapst 13 17 30 39

Old Town 15 35 43 59

3-pt. goals: John Bapst (3-11): Sekera 2-5, Crotty 1-2, Sturgeon 0-1, Mitchell-Storer 0-3; Old Town (7-12): Thibodeau 7-10, D. Spencer 0-2

Attendance: 250 (est.)

Preliminary: John Bapst JVs 37-24