Brunswick edges Mt. Blue behind Mims’ 22 points Dragons face Cony in semifinals

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BANGOR – Ralph Mims has considerable experience on the Bangor Auditorium floor. So when his Brunswick team was put to the test by Mt. Blue Saturday morning, the senior guard and his teammates didn’t panic.

Mims scored 10 of his game-high 22 points in the fourth quarter as No. 2 Brunswick held off determined No. 7 Mt. Blue of Farmington 43-37 in an Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal.

Coach Todd Hanson’s 17-1 Dragons play No. 6 Cony of Augusta in Friday’s 7:05 p.m. semifinal at the Auditorium.

Mims also contributed seven rebounds, seven steals, four assists, and a blocked shot in an outstanding effort.

“Once Ralph got into the open court, he was very difficult to guard,” Hanson said.

Coach Jim Bessey’s Cougars (13-7) executed a solid game plan. Led by Zach Frenette, they switched to a box-and-one defense and contained Mims – for a while – and held his teammates in check.

The Cougars, who trailed by nine at one point, used a 7-0 run to take a 29-28 lead midway through the third quarter. Ted Neil (16 points) hit two long jumpers to key the spurt.

“We knew that they’re try to come out and slow the tempo and I thought they did a good job,” Hanson said. “Coach Bessey’s one of the best around…”

The Dragons’ defense was the difference in the fourth quarter and Mims was the catalyst. First, he drew a foul and made two free throws to put Brunswick up for good at 32-31.

Mims followed with back-to-back steals and cashed in with baskets from the paint 20 seconds apart, giving Brunswick some much-needed momentum.

“My coach was telling me, ‘just be patient and let the game come to you,'” said Mims, who had Frechette in his shirt most of the game. “I was saying, I’m not getting into the offense, so I have to improvise and come play defense… get some steals to create a shot.”

Mt. Blue scored its first points of the quarter on Neil foul shots with 2:56 left, but Mims split a double-team and hit a 14-footer, then hit off a move in the paint to give the Dragons the upper hand.

Jesse Kaplan added eight points for Brunswick, which outrebounded Mt. Blue 29-26.

Neil went 7-for-12 from the field, pulled down eight rebounds, and blocked four shots to pace the Cougars. Brian Wells provided 13 points and five rebounds.

DRAGONS 43, COUGARS 37

Mt. Blue (13-7) Brunswick (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

S. Wells 0 3 0 0 0 Kaplan 4 11 8

B. Wells 6 13 1 1 13 Gauvin 1 5 2

Neil 7 12 2 3 16 Mims 8 17 5 22

Frechette 2 2 0 0 4 Scully 3 7 6

Gaither 1 1 0 0 2 Eichinger 1 2

Lake 0 1 1 2 1 Warren 1 4 1 3

Tinguely 0 1 0 0 0 Lemont 0 0 0

Simpson 0 0 1 2 1

Moloney 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 16 33 5 8 37 Totals 18 49 10 43

Mt. Blue 11 18 31 37

Brunswick 17 24 30 43

3-pt. goals ? Mt. Blue (0-4): S. Wells 0-2, B. Wells 0-2; Brunswick (1-10): Gavin 0-3, Mims 1-6, Eichinger 0-1