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BANGOR – Some fans might call Friday night’s Eastern Maine Class C semifinal ugly, but anytime a team can hold its opponent 25 or more points below its scoring average, it’s a beautiful thing to Matt Mattson.
Mattson’s George Stevens Academy Eagles simply adhered themselves to the Piscataquis players to obstruct, affect, confuse, harass, and wear down the defending regional champions from Guilford on the way to a 54-43 victory at the Bangor Auditorium.
“I don’t know about you, but I didn’t think it was the prettiest offensive game for either team, so I have to attribute that to the intense defensive pressure both teams generate,” said Mattson, whose 19-2 Eagles will meet 20-1 Calais for the regional title at 9 p.m. Saturday.
The 19-2 Pirates and Eagles shot a combined 32.2 percent from the field, but GSA’s 41.5 shooting looked a whole lot better than Piscataquis’ 25.0 effort both in the scorebook and on the court.
“We just tried to have a hand in their faces at all times and jump the ball screens to have someone in front of them all the time,” said junior forward Nick Henry, who drew one of the key assignments in GSA’s man-to-man defensive alignment by taking on Piscataquis center Ben Smith.
“I actually liked that because I could front the post, which is what we had to do since he’s such a strong player,” said Henry.
Along with help-side defensive aid from 6-foot-8 GSA center Ryan Hutchins, Henry held the Pirates’ athletic 6-3 senior to four points and five rebounds.
“We did a fantastic job on Smith and took him completely out of the game,” Mattson said. “That was probably the biggest thing for us because they couldn’t get any easy baskets without him.”
Conversely, the Pirates had no one to match up with – and no answer for – Hutchins, who finished with 20 points, 11 boards, and two blocks.
Meanwhile, neither team could really generate a lot of offense from its backcourt as the PCHS dynamic duo of Kyle Pulkkinen and Keith Dawson suffered through its second straight subpar shooting game.
“Yeah, it’s a poor time of the year to do it, but that’s the way things go. You can’t rely on them all the time,” said PCHS coach Jamie Russell. “We just couldn’t penetrate or get anything going inside. We couldn’t get any cuts…. Nothing. We just shot poorly. That’s all.”
Pulkkinen finished with 14 points and Dawson seven. Twelve of those 21 points came in the fourth quarter, but it still wasn’t enough as the Pirates couldn’t get GSA’s lead under eight points. The Pirates’ only lead in the game was 2-0 32 seconds in. GSA’s 9-0 run in the second quarter gave the Eagles a lead they not only wouldn’t relinquish, it wouldn’t dip below five points the rest of the game.
Forward Dustin Carson led the Pirates’ rebounding effort with 14.
EAGLES 54, PIRATES 43
George Stevens (19-2) Piscataquis boys (19-2)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Astbury 0 0 2 3 2 Hoffman 1 2 2
Clapp 0 4 0 0 0 White 0 2 0
Ledien 3 10 3 4 11 Pulkkinen 3 11 6 9 14
Allen 0 0 0 0 0 Dawson 2 12 7
Henry 4 9 9 11 17 Smith 1 5 4
Lowell 2 4 0 0 4 Watson 2 4 5
Candage 0 0 0 0 0 Carson 4 12 9
Hutchins 8 14 4 7 20 Tracy 0 4 2
Totals 17 41 18 25 54 13 52 12 18 43
George Stevens Academy 7 18 30 54
Piscataquis 5 9 2 43
3-pt. goals: GSA (2-8): Ledien 2-7, Clapp 0-1; Piscataquis (5-17): Pulkkinen 2-7, Dawson 2-9, Watson 1-1
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