ORONO – For a moment, John Saucier says, he was back in his driveway, making the shot, just as he had hundreds of times before. Time counting down. The crowd roaring.

This time the crowd of 650 was real. So was the shot. Saucier’s shot with one second left in the game Wednesday night gave the eighth-seeded Orono a 54-52 win over ninth-seeded Hermon in an Eastern Maine Class B preliminary game.

The 11-8 Red Riots move on to play top-seeded Camden Hills Saturday at 3:35 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.

The play began with eight seconds remaining in the game and the Red Riots inbounding the ball from the side court deep in their offensive end with the score tied at 52.

Saucier flashed to the middle and for a second was wide-open. But the pass flew wildly over his head and appeared destined to go out of bounds on the opposite of the court.

Orono junior Ryan Levesque chased the ball down and, with a Hermon player right behind him, leaped into the air and tried to throw the ball off the Hermon player. Instead the ball deflected back toward the basket where Saucier latched onto it.

The 6-foot-11 senior turned and leaned toward the basket and lofted a soft 3-footer that went through the basket almost without moving the net.

“I just grabbed it,” Saucier said. “I think I was behind the backboard. That’s what you get for practicing the game-winning shot in your driveway for 18 years. That’s all I could think of. When I shot I felt just like I was in my driveway playing at home.”

Orono opened the game by sending a message that they were going to use their size. Possession after possession they brought the ball down and pounded the ball inside to 6-5 Justin Perron.

The senior, who finished with 24 points, made all six of his floor attempts in the first half and the Red Riots had a 31-23 lead at the break.

Perron had a lot of help. The guard play of Levesque and juniors Lance Cowan and Jeff Miller was superb in the half. Levesque and Cowan had four first-half assists apiece.

Meanwhile, Saucier and Perron were doing a number on the 8-9 Hawks 6-8 postman Adam Porter. Porter finished the game with just six points.

Saucier not only blocked five shots but was also able to alter shots. He finished with eight points and nine rebounds while Perron had six rebounds.

The Hawks gave up their man-to-man defense in the second half, going to a 1-3-1 zone and full court zone pressure.

The pressure worked with the Red Riots turning the ball over seven times in the third quarter. The Hawks moved to within five points at 37-32 at the end of the third quarter and tied the game at 50 with 1:29 to go when junior Jesse Keith hit a technical foul shot.

Keith finished with 16 points while senior Joey Schacht had 12 and senior Ron Lane finished with 10 for Hermon.

“I just told them in the locker room we did everything we had to do or could do to win,” Hermon coach Alan Tweedie said. “How that ball bounced in the last five seconds, fate just takes over at that point.”

RED RIOTS 54, HAWKS 52

Hermon (9-10) Orono (11-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cayford 1 3 0 0 2 Dolley 0 0 0

Schacht 5 16 2 2 12 Cowan 2 3 5

Keith 6 9 3 4 16 Miller 1 5 4

Duplisea 1 5 3 4 6 Perron 9 12 24

Porter 3 13 0 0 6 Socoby 2 7 4

Lane 3 11 4 4 10 Saucier 3 6 2 8

King 0 1 0 0 0 Levesque 3 7 9

Totals 19 58 12 14 52 20 40 13 15 54

Hermon 8 23 32 52

Orono 16 31 37 54

3-pt. goals: Hermon (2-16): Keith 1-1, Duplisea 1-5, Schacht 0-8, Cayford 0-1, Porter 0-1; Orono (1-8): Levesque 1-2, Miller 0-3, Socoby 0-3

Attendance: 650