Cowan sparks Lee at start of 4th Pandas regain momentum vs. J-B

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BANGOR – Lee Academy junior forward Neil Cowan said he knew his Pandas needed a basket to regain momentum and stem a Jonesport-Beals rally that had whittled an 18-point halftime deficit down to six in their Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium Monday night.

“I knew they wouldn’t be expecting it because I hadn’t tried a three all night,” said Cowan who opened the fourth quarter by burying a critical three from the corner and followed it with a driving baseline layup off a Tom Bird pass to help the top-seeded Pandas pull away from the scrappy ninth-seeded Royals 60-43.

The 14-5 Pandas will now face fourth-seeded Katahdin of Stacyville, 16-4, in Thursday’s 8:35 p.m. semifinal. The Royals finished at 12-8.

Bird had 11 points in the first half, Matt Scott scored nine and Gerry Worster had eight more as the Pandas built a 37-19 cushion.

But the Pandas went cold in the third period, hitting just two of their 14 field-goal attempts, and a pair of 3-pointers by J-B sophomore Kenny Chandler closed out the quarter and sliced the lead to 44-37.

Chandler was called up from the junior varsity team for the tournament.

Ross Griffin had five points for the Royals in the third quarter.

After Cowan extended the lead to 49-37, Joseph Libby nailed a three from the top of the key to reduce the lead to nine.

But Lee Academy continued to spread the floor, as it had in the latter stages of the third period, and rattled off the next 11 points as the Royals went cold. The Pandas protected the ball effectively and drove the lane when the opportunity presented itself, often drawing fouls.

Jonesport-Beals went just 3-for-14 from the floor in the fourth quarter as Lee’s trapping defense created turnovers and rushed shots.

“I’m disappointed,” said Jonesport-Beals coach Ordie Alley. “We can play a lot better than we did tonight. We made one foul shot. We’re a scrappy, hustling team but we don’t have quickness.”

Bird and Scott had 14 points apiece. Scott pulled down 10 rebounds and Bird had three assists and two steals.

Worster had 12 points and three assists and Cowan wound up with nine points and six rebounds.

Joseph Libby had a game-high 17 points for Jonesport-Beals and he also grabbed five rebounds. Griffin and Chandler had nine points apiece.

PANDAS 60, R0YALS 43

Jonesport-Beals (12-8) Lee (14-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Backman 1 5 0 1 2 Cowan 4 8 9

J. Alley 0 2 0 0 0 King 1 2 3

Libby 7 15 0 1 17 Bird 5 8 14

R. Griffin 4 16 0 0 9 G. Worster 4 11 3 5 12

Faulkingham 0 2 0 1 0 Scott 6 11 14

Ellis 0 1 0 0 0 Pickering 1 3

Holmes 1 4 0 0 2 Tripp 0 5 0

K. Chandler 3 6 0 1 9 Thompson 1 3

Kelley 0 0 0 0 0 A.Coulombe 0 0

Barton 0 1 1 2 1 Houghton 1 2

Dyer 0 0 0 0 0 D. Worster 0 0 0

Geel 1 1 0 1 3 Crocker 0 0 0 0

Herzog 0 0 0 0 0 Connick 0 1 0

Leach 0 0 0 0 0 C.Coulombe 0 0 0

D. Chandler 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 17 53 1 7 43 Totals 23 56 11 22 60

Jonesport Beals 12 19 37 43

Lee 21 37 44 60

3-pt. goals – Jonesport-Beals (8-20): K. Chandler 3-6, Libby 3-7, Griffin 1-2, Geel 1-1, D. Chandler 0-1, Barton 0-1, Backman 0-2; Lee (3-15): G. Worster 1-4, Cowan 1-2, Thompson 1-1, Tripp 0-5, Bird 0-1, Pickering 0-1, King 0-1