EAST MILLINOCKET – It may be a tall man’s game, but Saturday night’s game at Schenck High School showed basketball still has a place for shorter guys, too.

In a game in which rebounding was a huge factor and both teams combined for 93 total, it was the shortest guy on the court who came up with the biggest basket.

Schenck guard Seth Johnston’s put-back from the right block with 30 seconds to play provided the winning points as the Wolverines held off the hard-charging Stearns Minutemen of Millinocket 58-55.

The latest installment of a longtime rivalry which only recently carried over into regular season matchups – with both teams now ensconced in the Class C ranks – delivered all the excitement a heated cross-town rivalry should.

Thing got real intense after Stearns used a 12-4 run which began late in the third quarter, finished early in the fourth, was fueled by eight points from sophomore guard Derek DiFrederico, and left the game tied at 45-all with 5:44 left in the game. From that point on, neither team led by more than five points.

Schenck scored five straight points, but Stearns refused to fold as 3-pointers by guards Matt Leino and DiFrederico (game-high 24 points, three assists) in a 52-seconds span knotted the score again (55-55) with 48 seconds left.

With 37 seconds left, the 5-foot-7 Johnston knifed to the top of the key and lobbed up a shot. The ball bounced around the rim before falling off the right side. Johnston, the only player in the low post or low blocks, seemed surprised as he grabbed the loose ball and laid it up off the glass with 30 seconds left for his only points of the game.

“They got the layup at the end, and that was the back-breaker,” said coach Mike Portwine, whose Minutemen are now 5-6.

Eleven seconds later, Leino’s shot from the right wing missed and Schenck’s Brian Graham (12 points) came up with his fourth and most important rebound. Schenck’s Ryan Deschenes was fouled with 12 seconds left and hit one of two free throws. Stearns had one more shot, which Leino took from beyond the 3-point arc on the left wing with two seconds left. The shot bounced off the rim and into the hands of Deschenes for the last of his game-high 12 rebounds as time ran out.

“It’s kind of a game that opens up the second half of our season for us,” said Schenck forward Mike Rossignol, who had nine points and 11 boards. “It was big for points, but it was even greater for pumping us up mentally.”

Despite foul woes which also affected every other frontcourt players in the game, Deschenes stayed in and wound up with 20 points.

“Ryan and just about all my other big kids got in foul trouble, but Ryan’s the key for us,” said Schenck coach Charlie Giberson. “Our plan the whole game was to dump it down inside to him.”

The Wolverines are now 9-3 and a fixture near the top of the Northeast Division rankings after their second victory over Stearns.

“I’d like to stay in the top three if I can, but I just don’t want to meet those guys again in the playoffs. No way,” Giberson said. “These kids come down and play with my kids all the time in camps, after school, or just pickup games, so there’s no secrets between us.”

Schenck took control of a back-and-forth game with a 12-0 run in the second quarter. Stearns responded with a 7-2 run that got it within seven points at halftime.

Stearns center Matt Legassey finished with nine points and 11 rebounds as each team had 15 turnovers.

WOLVERINES 58, MINUTEMEN 55

Stearns (5-6) Schenck (9-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Leino 2 10 0 0 5 Johnston 1 2

Fitzgerald 2 3 0 0 4 Thompson 1 5

DiFrederico 7 21 7 9 24 Rossignol 4 11 1 3 9

Johnston 0 2 0 2 0 Deschenes 9 14 2 3 20

Johnson 0 4 1 6 1 B.Graham 5 15 2 5 12

McLaughlin 4 14 0 0 8 Jamo 2 4 6

Hartwell 2 4 0 0 4 S.Graham 0 0

Mat.Legassey 3 7 3 4 9 Hanington 2 4

Mar.Legassey 0 2 0 0 0

Totals 20 67 11 21 55 24 67 17 58

Stearns 15 26 41 55

Schenck 15 33 43 58

3-pt. goals: Stearns (4-11): DiFrederico 3-5, Leino 1-3, McLaughlin 0-3; Schenck (2-10): Jamo 2-3, Johnston 0-1, Thompson 0-2, Graham 0-2, S. Graham 0-2

Attendance: 800 (est.)

Preliminary: Schenck 61-55