White helps Ponies cruise Foxcroft to face Erskine in semis

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BANGOR – Evaluators of the Foxcroft Academy boys’ basketball team might point to its balance of interior size and smooth shooting guards.

But Ponies coach Dave Carey likes the way his team plays defense. After Friday night’s encounter with Mount View of Thorndike, the coach liked it even more.

The third-seeded Ponies put the clamps on the Mustangs in the third quarter, outscoring sixth-seeded Mount View 20-5 and went on to a 70-50 Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal win at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Ponies play second-seeded Erskine Academy of South China, a 59-46 winner Friday night over No. 7 Maranacook of Readfield, in a 3:35 p.m. semifinal on Wednesday.

As planned, Mount View junior Anthony Greenlaw departed the game and the Auditorium at the end of the first quarter at 5:04 p.m. to head home for a celebration of the Sabbath.

Greenlaw and his family, are members of the Restored Church of God, a Christian faith that celebrates the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Greenlaw had four points and an offensive rebound in the quarter. The Mount View fans gave Greenlaw a standing ovation as he departed the Auditorium.

It was the first win in the tournament for 18-1 Foxcroft since 1987 and the Ponies did it in style.

Shooting guard Danny White opened the game with a 3-pointer and the Ponies never trailed. White finished the game with 19 points. The senior showed a remarkable ability to not only shoot from long range but to take the ball to the basket at just 5-foot-10.

“Josh Withee doesn’t get enough credit,” White said. “He gets the ball to me right in position for me to shoot it.”

Withee finished with 11 points and six assists but more important than his contributions on offense was his defensive effort on Mount View’s Marc McCorrison, who entered the game averaging just under 17 points per game. He had 13 Friday, but just five through the first three quarters .

Sophomore forward Matt Carey had 13 points for the Ponies while 6-7 junior Brandon Hall had 15.

The Ponies will be without Hall for their semifinal game. Hall drew three technical fouls in the game, two for grabbing the rim on dunk attempts.

“That’s a tough one. We’re going to get after it. We’re not going to come in here with our tail between our legs. We’re going to come and try to get that kid on the floor another time [in the Eastern Maine final],” coach Carey said.

Roy Goodale led the 14-6 Mustangs with 19 points.

In the night game, Erskine Academy’s full-court pressure paid off as the Eagles forced Maranacook into 27 turnovers.

Matt Donar scored 21 points, including hitting on 4 of 7 3-point attempts. Kenny Demuth had 16 points and seven assists for the Eagles.

“We like to play up and down as much as we can. We’re a running team. We try to play at our pace,” Donar said.

Logan Gerrity scored 12 points to top the Black Bears.

After an opening period in which they turned the ball over eight times, Maranacook appeared to settle down in the second quarter, better handling Erskine’s pressure.

But the Eagles kept the Black Bears on the run throughout the second half. When Maranacook managed to break Erskine’s press, they were unable to get the ball inside and were forced to settle on long-range shots and managed to make just 4 of 17 from beyond the arc.

Erskine coach Tim Bonsant said the Eagles’ pressure normally forces approximately 23 turnovers per game.

“Pressure on the ball was pretty good night tonight. We were getting after it. We need to do that. As small as we are they’ll shove it down our throat and we’d never win a game if we don’t,” Bonsant said.

EAGLES 59, BLACK BEARS 46

Maranacook (13-7) Erskine (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Palmer 0 0 0 0 0 Demuth 4 15 16

Peabody 0 0 0 0 0 Dow 1 2 2

Violette 3 5 2 2 8 Childs 0 0 0

Edwards 0 1 0 0 0 Farrington 0 0

Calligan 2 9 0 0 5 Peterson 0 0

Drapeau 1 2 2 4 4 D. Haskell 0 2

Haines 1 3 0 0 2 Glidden 0 1 3

Feldman 0 1 2 2 2 Jones 1 1 4

St. John 2 7 2 3 7 Janosky 4 5 9

Gerrity 5 7 2 6 12 Flemming 0 0

Gilman 2 6 0 0 6 E. Haskell 0 2

Danforth 0 0 0 0 0 Wing 0 0 0

Donar 8 13 1 21

Totals 16 41 10 17 46 18 39 17 28 59

Maranacook 7 20 31 46

Erskine 13 28 40 59

3-pt. goals: Maranacook (4-17): Gilman 2-4, St. John 1-3, Calligan 1-7, Violette 0-1, Edwards 0-1, Haines 0-1; Erskine (6-13): Donar 4-7, Janosky 1-1, Demuth 1-3, Haskell, Glidden

PONIES 70, MUSTANGS 50

Mount View (14-6) Foxcroft Acad. (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Wentworth 0 0 1 6 1 Robinson 0 0

Miles 0 5 1 2 1 Withee 3 4 11

Harvey 0 0 0 0 0 White 7 16 23

Ward 1 2 2 2 4 Earnest 0 0 0 0

Crichton 2 6 0 0 4 Imbert 2 5 4

Goodale 6 13 5 7 19 Kennedy 0 0 0

McCorrison 4 11 2 4 13 Carey 5 11 13

Downs 0 0 0 0 0 Gilbert 0 2 2

Jones 0 0 0 0 0 Perry 1 2 2

Spaulding 0 6 0 0 0 Gosselin 0 0

Ewell 0 0 0 0 0 Hall 7 9 15

Greenlaw 1 1 2 2 4

Higgins 1 1 0 0 2

Tripp 1 1 0 0 2

Totals 16 47 13 23 50 Totals 25 50 17 22 70

Mount View 8 22 27 50

Foxcroft Acad. 15 30 50 70

3-pt. goals: Mount View (5-17): McCorrison 3-7, Goodale 2-5, Harvey 0-2, Spaulding 0-1, Miles 0-2; Foxcroft (3-9): White 2-5, Withee 1-1, Carey 0-1, Gosselin 0-1, Perry 0-1