ELLSWORTH – Freshman Demitrios Katsiaficas displayed a veteran’s composure in the final seconds here Friday night, and because of it the Ellsworth High boys basketball team remains unbeaten.

Katsiaficas, a 6-foot-1 guard, hit a game-winning 3-pointer from the left baseline with 1.3 seconds left as the Eagles outlasted Foxcroft Academy 45-42 in a Class B showdown at a packed Ellsworth High gym.

Ellsworth inbounded the ball from midcourt with 9.7 seconds left. Joey DeWitt waited for teammate Andy Tracy to spring open near the free-throw line, but when that didn’t happen, the senior point guard was set to shoot himself – until he noticed Katsiaficas out of the corner of his eye.

“Coach [Dan Clifford] put me in and I was thinking the whole time, if I get the ball I’m gonna’ make the 3,” said Katsiaficas. “So I just set my feet, and as soon as I knew Joe was going to penetrate and dish it to me, I got ready and I just hit it.”

Foxcroft called time, advanced the ball to midcourt and called time again with 0.6 seconds left. The Ponies then inbounded to Josh Withee, whose long 3-point try was off target at the buzzer.

Ellsworth (10-0) overcame a pace dictated by Foxcroft, and won despite shooting a lower-than-usual 29 percent (6 of 21) from beyond the 3-point arc.

“We really played into their hands, but beating them at their own game is big for us,” said DeWitt, who scored 19 points. “We won’t shoot worse than that. We shot horribly, but they’re a tough team, they play tough defense and they do that to teams.”

Foxcroft’s downfall came at the free-throw line, where the 8-2 Ponies made 3 of 14 attempts – 1 of 8 in the second half.

“We shot 3 for 14 , and they shot 9 of 10, and that was the difference,” said Foxcroft coach David Carey “We usually shoot the ball much better than that.”

Tracy, a sophomore forward,. added 11 points and 12 rebounds for Ellsworth despite suffering a cut lip in the first quarter that required stitches at halftime.

Foxcroft junior Matt Carey was the game’s dominant inside player, scoring a game-high 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

“They controlled the tempo and we just hung in there really,” said Clifford “We wanted to make it a track meet and they wanted to slow it down, and they did a good job of that. We struggled to score, which is the first time that’s happened [this season].”

This was a tight game throughout. Foxcroft held the game’s largest lead, 15-10 midway through the second quarter, but Ellsworth converted two late Pony turnovers into a jumper by Anthony Jones and a runner by Corey DeWitt to gain a 20-20 halftime tie.

The teams remained tied at 33-33 entering the final period, in part because Ellsworth made all of its eight free throws in the third quarter, including three by Joey DeWitt when he fouled while attempting a 25-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Three-point shots by Joey and Corey DeWitt gave Ellsworth a 39-35 lead early in the fourth, but Carey scored off a Withee lob pass and the Ponies’ Greg Perry hit a 3 after an offensive rebound by teammate Lincoln Robinson to forge a 40-40 tie with 4:49 left.

Carey scored again from the low post with 2:36 left before a tip-in by Tracy re-tied the game with 2:08 left.

EAGLES 45, PONIES 42

Foxcroft Acad. (8-2) Ellsworth (10-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Withee 0 8 1 2 1 Katsiaficas 1 3

Robinson 0 1 0 0 0 C. DeWitt 2 8

Carey 11 21 1 5 23 J. DeWitt 6 14 4 5 19

Perry 2 4 0 0 6 Berry 0 1 0

Gilbert 4 15 1 5 10 Tracy 4 10 11

Earnest 1 1 0 0 2 Jones 1 2 2

Croan 0 0 0 2 0 Britt 0 2 0

Conners 0 0 0 0

Jordan 1 2 0 2

Totals 18 50 3 14 42 15 42 10 45

Foxcroft Academy 12 20 33 42

Ellsworth 8 20 33 45

3-pt. goals ? Foxcroft (3-15): Perry 2-3, Gilbert 1-7, Carey 0-1, Withee 0-4; Ellsworth (6-21): J. DeWitt 3-7, Katsiaficas 1-2, Tracy 1-4, C. DeWitt 1-7, Jones 0-1

Attendance: 1,000 (est.)

JV: Ellsworth 63-46