BANGOR – It was all about teams Saturday as the Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinals wound up at the Bangor Auditorium.
For the Ellsworth boys, it was a team effort on defense and the boards that allowed the Eagles – seeded 10th in the final Heal Point standings – to upset third-ranked Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield 47-36.
For Bucksport, it was “Team Harvey” who led the Golden Bucks to an authoritative 74-63 win over Mount View of Thorndike.
A Belfast fan who stuck around to watch the Bucksport game before traveling to Lewiston to watch the Lions swim team win a state title summed up Jason Harvey’s performance best as she was leaving the Auditorium.
“Yeah, Mount View lost to Jason Harvey,” the fan told a friend.
Bucksport’s 5-foot-11 senior guard served notice early on that he would not be defended or denied as he scored Bucksport’s first seven points to ignite a 15-for-26 shooting effort that produced a game-high 41 points. He also dished out a game-high six assists to go with six rebounds and two steals.
“Jason got into the zone,” said coach David Gonyar, whose 18-2 Bucks meet 9-11 Ellsworth for the third time this season in an 8:35 p.m. Wednesday semifinal. “When he’s going like that, we’re awful tough to beat.”
The Bucks never trailed or were tied in the game’s last 23 minutes Saturday, thanks largely to a run during which Harvey scored nine straight points.
Mount View coach Mike Brown just shook his head in amazement.
“We figured we’d have to catch them on a night they didn’t shoot well because I don’t think there’s a lot you can do against Harvey with gimmicks or double-teaming. He’s just too good,” he said. “The rest of their players are too good for that too … They’re just too good.”
Bucks backcourt mate Corey Guilford chipped in with 13 points.
Bucksport committed 11 turnovers to Mount View’s 20, matched the bigger Mustangs 33-33 in overall rebounding, and outshot them 48.3 percent to 43.6 from the floor.
The 11-9 Mustangs were led by junior guard Marc McCorrison (16 points), senior center Calvin Goodale (13 points, six boards), and sophomore forward Roy Goodale (eight, 11, and four assists).
Later Saturday, the Eagles used a sagging 2-3 zone defense, an all-out assault on the boards, and a patient offensive attack to keep the Huskies on their heels all game – and they did it without leading scorer Jake King, who is academically ineligible during the playoffs.
“These kids deserve this,” said coach Dan Clifford. “The guys found out we lost Jake and they didn’t even blink. We probably just had our best week of practice.”
Ellsworth dictated the tempo from the start, never trailed in the game, and was only tied once (2-2).
“They played the best game I think they could,” said coach Bill Brooks, whose Huskies finish 15-5. “I’ll be hard-pressed to think if they took a shot outside 15 feet. They broke us down and we rushed our shots on the other end.”
The Eagles were 0-for-1 from 3-point range and shot 57 percent from the field to MCI’s 37.5.
Seniors John Morse and Adam Smith led the Eagles as they combined for 40 points and seven boards. Morse (22 points) shot 72.7 percent from the field and Smith (18) shot 70 percent.
“We knew the biggest keys to the game were rebounding and defense because they were bigger than us,” said Morse. “Boxing out was huge. Everyone had to help out, our guards … everyone.”
The Eagles were outrebounded 12-6 offensively and 22-18 overall, but the flow of the game and their shooting accuracy more than made up for the differential.
Senior forward Andrew St. Clair, who has been unable to practice for two weeks with a sprained ankle, still managed to lead the Huskies as their only double-digit scorer (16 points). He also chipped in with six rebounds.
GOLDEN BUCKS 74, MUSTANGS 63
Mount View boys (11-9) Bucksport (18-2)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Krueger 5 13 0 0 12 McHale 0 1 0
Miles 2 5 0 0 6 Cain 0 0 0
Elwell 0 0 0 0 0 Beeson 0 0 0
Crichton 1 2 0 0 2 Sheehan 2 2 5
Goodale 3 7 0 0 8 Mercer 1 4 2
McCorrison 5 10 5 6 16 Knight 0 0 0
Philbrook 0 0 0 0 0 Allard 0 3 0
Spaulding 2 3 0 0 4 Nason 0 0 0
Flewelling 0 3 0 2 0 Hopkins 0 0 0
Higgins 0 1 2 3 2 Guilford 6 14 0 0 13
Goodale 6 11 1 1 13 Harvey 15 26 41
Ogden 3 3 0 6
Atherton-Dow 2 5 7
Sullivan 0 0 0
Wingate 0 2 0 0
Totals 24 55 8 12 63 29 60 10 15 74
Mount View 18 28 41 63
Bucksport 20 40 60 74
3-pt. goals: Mount View (7-19): Miles 2-4, Goodale 2-5, Krueger 2-7, McCorrison 1-3; Bucksport (6-11): Harvey 4-6, Sheehan 1-1, Guilford 1-3, Allard 0-1
EAGLES 47, HUSKIES 36
Ellsworth (12-8) MCI (15-5)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Mayo 0 1 0 0 0 Arakaki 0 2 1 1
DeWitt 0 0 1 2 1 Asato 1 4 2
Luchini 0 0 0 0 0 Bennett 0 0 0
Bradford 0 3 2 4 2 McGowan 0 0 0
Smith 7 10 4 5 18 St. Clair 7 13 2 2 16
Jones 0 0 0 0 0 Vad 3 7 7
Wood 0 0 0 0 0 Quint 0 0 0 0
Sawyer 0 0 0 0 0 Bedford 3 10 8
Joh.Morse 8 11 6 9 22 Adam 0 0 0
Hunnewell 0 0 0 0 0 Miyako 0 1 0
Joc.Morse 0 0 0 0 0 Saunders 1 2
McMillan 1 3 2 2 4 Leavitt 0 0 0
Godfrey 0 0 0 0
Hall 0 0 0 0
Totals 16 28 15 22 47 15 40 36
Ellsworth 11 22 33 47
Maine Central Institute 4 16 28 36
3-pt. goals: Ellsworth (0-1): Bradford 0-1; MCI (1-5): Vad 1-3, St. Clair 0-1, Miyako 0-1
Comments
comments for this post are closed