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BANGOR – Tuesday’s first two Eastern Maine boys Class C quarterfinals offered a clash of the titans and a titanic rout.
The matchup most fans expected to see in the semifinals or final lived up to the hype as Calais outlasted Hodgdon in a heavyweight bout of a game and handed the Hawks their first loss of the season – 67-56 – before 2,300 fans at the Bangor Auditorium Tuesday.
Calais will meet 18-2 Washington Academy of East Machias for the third time this season – this time in a 3:35 p.m. Friday semifinal – as the Raiders plundered their way to a 91-58 victory over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln.
Tuesday’s first game was tight: Hodgdon’s biggest lead was 10, Calais’ was 11, and the game featured eight lead changes – seven in the final 81/2 minutes.
Individual matchups were also intense as Hodgdon’s primary weapons (senior forwards Tyler Putnam and Matt Day) matched up evenly with Calais’ (senior center Joe Footer and junior guard Andy Frost) – until Calais made its move in the fourth quarter.
Things didn’t look promising when Footer picked up his third foul with 13 seconds left in the third quarter, but the landscape changed drastically and quickly. In the fourth, Putnam scored on a leaner from the low post to put Hodgdon up 44-43 before Frost nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing. Putnam had two more hoops as the Hawks scored six of the next eight points to go up 53-50, but Putnam was whistled for his third and fourth fouls in a 43-second span.
Footer and Frost redoubled their efforts and accounted for five points in an 8-0 Calais run, but the run’s biggest play only put up one point as Frost darted into the post and was fouled by Putnam with 3:11 to play. With Putnam gone, the Devils were stoked. Frost hit one of two shots and Calais outscored Hodgdon 11-3 the rest of the way.
“We were right there, but when he fouled out, obviously we’re a different team without him on the floor,” said coach Rob Moran, whose Hawks finish 19-1. “That made all the difference.”
Putnam, who grabbed five boards and combined with Day for 27 points in the first half, was held to six points and one board in the second en route to 19 total points as Calais senior forward James Provencher (nine points) turned in arguably the best defensive effort against Putnam this season.
“When we put him on Putnam, we knew he could do the job and we’d give him help if [Putnam] got it down low,” said Footer, who had a game-high 29 points and 18 rebounds. “He did a good job limiting his touches. Putnam’s tough. Even if you’ve got three or four guys on him, he can still make a shot.”
Day (18 points) had just four points in the second half while Footer and Frost combined for 29 points and 14 boards.
“We used kind of a mini diamond-and-one defense on Putnam,” said Frost, who had six points in the first half but finished with 21 points, six boards, six assists, three steals and a block. “As far as what I did, I don’t know, I’m just so happy right now it’s tough to think.”
Later Tuesday, the Raiders unleashed a 26-shot barrage in the first quarter, shot 61.5 percent from the field, piled up 39 points, took a 33-point lead, and never looked back.
“We gave them a lot of different looks and different defenses and we just came out firing,” said WA coach Chad Fitzsimmons.
MA’s strategy to use a box-and-one defense aimed at senior sharpshooter Bobby Richardson (20 points) left others open and sophomore reserve guard Jared Gray was the big beneficiary as he hit five of seven 3-pointers in the first half en route to 27 points.
The Raiders outrebounded MA 24-10 offensively and 47-26 overall. Barret Craven came off the bench for nine boards and Whitney Stevens dished out seven assists.
Jon Carney led the 13-7 Lynx with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dan LaPlante and Tyler Libby each scored 10 while Nate Cousineau had eight assists and four steals.
BLUE DEVILS 67, HAWKS 56
Calais boys (19-1) Hodgdon (19-1)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Morrell 1 6 0 1 2 Putnam 8 13 19
Provencher 3 9 1 2 9 Blanchette 2 5
McLean 1 3 0 0 2 Williams 0 0
Frost 8 12 4 7 21 Day 8 15 18
Woodside 0 0 0 0 0 Sanford 0 0 0
Footer 10 18 9 9 29 Griffin 3 10 8
LaPointe 2 4 0 0 4 Nickerson 2 6
Totals 25 52 14 19 67 23 48 12 56
Calais 15 28 43 67
Hodgdon 18 33 42 56
3-pt. goals: Calais (3-7): Provencher 2-3, Frost 1-3, Morrell 0-1; Hodgdon (3-9): Day 2-3, Griffin 1-3, Nickerson 0-1, Putnam 0-1, Blanchette 0-1
RAIDERS 91, LYNX 58
Mattanawcook boys (13-7) Washington Acad. (18-2)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Hanscom 0 0 0 0 0 Richardson 1 4
Gardner 1 1 0 0 2 Cabau 0 1 0
LaPlante 5 9 0 2 10 Harmon 1 4 2
Kites 2 9 0 0 5 Mawhinney 1 2
Pete 3 5 2 2 8 Gibson 1 6 2 4
Cousineau 1 6 1 2 3 Gray 10 17 27
Greenlaw 0 2 0 0 0 Fagonde 2 7 4
Berry 1 1 0 0 2 Kamseau 0 0 0
Whitney 1 1 0 0 2 Richardson 7 12 3 4 20
Libbey 4 7 2 4 10 Holmes 1 4 3
Langavin 0 2 2 2 2 Stevens 4 9 9
Arnold 0 0 0 0 0 Reynolds 5 10
Carney 7 14 0 2 14 Craven 1 3 4
Berry 1 2 0 2
Totals 25 57 7 14 58 35 77 12 22 91
Mattanawcook Academy 6 29 41 58
Washington Academy 39 63 78 91
3-pt. goals: Mattanawcook (1-3): Kites 1-2, LaPlante 0-1; Washington Academy (9-18): Gray 5-8, Richardson 3-4, Stevens 1-2, Harmon 0-1, Gibson 0-3
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