Typical Penquis, new-look WA win Patriots use defense; Raiders go inside

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BANGOR – A new-look Washington Academy of East Machias team and a typical Penquis of Milo squad will meet Friday night in an Eastern Maine Class C boys basketball semifinal after posting quarterfinal victories at the Bangor Auditorium on Tuesday afternoon.

Second-ranked Penquis used its hard-nosed defense and timely offense to turn away No. 7 Calais 52-32, while No. 3 Washington Academy – in recent years a guard-dominated club – used its inside game to power past No. 11 Schenck of East Millinocket 73-56.

Sam Hostetter, a 6-foot-4 center, epitomized WA’s dominance of the paint, shooting 11 of 14 from the field while scoring 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

“We knew we had a big height advantage, and we knew we could use it to our advantage,” said Hostetter, who had 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half.

Jarred Sternbergh, a 6-2 junior, worked inside for 13 points and six rebounds, while 6-2 senior James Ramsdell also scored 13 points, mostly in the Raiders’ transition game.

The Raiders (16-3) scored the final 11 points of the second quarter to take a 35-28 halftime lead. The run began inside with a follow-up basket by Hostetter and a post-up move by James Ramsdell but concluded from long range with sophomore Jeffrey Ramsdell hitting a pair of 3-pointers, the second one after a steal with five seconds left.

“Jeffrey’s a pretty good pressure shooter,” said James Ramsdell of his younger brother.

Schenck (8-12) tried to battle back behind the long-range shooting of senior guard Aaron Waite, who scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the second half. He struck for five points in the final seven seconds of the third quarter, hitting a 3-pointer and then making two free throws after a steal, to pull the Wolverines within 53-46.

Another Waite steal and layup closed the gap to 53-48 six seconds into the final period, but WA soon scored 15 unanswered points – five baskets from the lane and 5-of-6 free-throw shooting – to extend its lead to 72-50 with 2:30 left.

Sophomore Chris Byron added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Wolverines.

“We didn’t rebound well and we knew we had to do that to play with them,” said Schenck coach Steve Levasseur. “We lost because we didn’t rebound, but I’m very disappointed in the officiating that’s been produced out there. It’s a shame as far as I’m concerned.”

Penquis limited Calais to 21.7 percent (13 of 60) shooting from the field while earning its 11th consecutive victory.

“The goal was to shut down their big offensive players and keep their big guy off the boards and deny him the ball when possible,” said Penquis senior Jordan Allen, who shook off foul trouble to score a game-high 19 points.

“We did a good job of that; we just had to keep me out of foul trouble, and the 2-3 zone saved us,” said Allen.

Senior forward Devin Perkins was a defensive catalyst on the interior, blocking five shots and grabbing 11 rebounds to go with 10 points.

“We had to keep them off the glass and try to front them, because if they got the ball in low, we were in trouble, but we did well enough to keep them out of there,” Perkins said.

Penquis (17-2) held a 24-16 halftime advantage, then broke the game open as back-to-back 3-pointers by junior guards Justin Morrill and Alex Zwicker extended the Patriots’ margin to 35-20 and forced a Calais timeout with 3:31 left in the third quarter.

“That was, I think, the game,” said Penquis coach Tony Hamlin. “Those two threes just broke their back. They had gotten it [down] to nine, and those put it back to 15 and it kind of debilitated them.”

Senior forward Garrett Dickerson led 13-7 Calais with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while 6-6 center Bryan Blake had seven rebounds.

PATRIOTS 52, BLUE DEVILS 32

Calais (13-7) Penquis (17-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

McLean 2 12 0 1 5 N. Allen 3 7

Dickerson 3 13 4 8 10 J. Allen 5 10 8 11 19

Deacon 0 0 0 0 0 Landry 0 0 0

McPhee 0 0 0 0 0 Hamlin 1 1 2

Geel 1 1 0 0 2 Salley 0 0 0 0

Rogers 1 2 0 0 2 Creighton 0 2

Taylor 0 6 0 0 0 Morrill 1 3 3

Guthrie 3 6 0 1 6 Stevens 1 2 4

Bell 2 12 0 0 5 Herbest 0 1 0 0

Wallace 0 2 0 0 0 A. Zwicker 1 3

Blake 1 6 0 0 2 Perkins 4 11 10

Andrews 0 0 0 0

Carey 0 0 2 2

Totals 13 60 4 10 32 Totals 16 34 16 24 52

Calais 5 16 25 32

Penquis 9 24 36 52

3-pt. goals – Calais (2-19): McLean 1-9, Bell 1-8, Taylor 0-2; Penquis (4-11): N. Allen 1-1, A. Zwicker 1-1, J. Allen 1-2, Morrill 1-2, Herbest 0-1, Perkins 0-4

RAIDERS 73, WOLVERINES 56

Schenck (8-12) Washington Acad. (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Kimball 1 1 0 1 2 Leighton 0 1

McLaughlin 0 0 0 0 0 Gray 0 2 0

Bishop 3 7 0 0 6 Wood 0 0 1

Hamlin 0 2 0 0 0 Albee 0 2 0

Lowell 1 2 0 0 3 Ja. Ramsdll 6 12 1 2 13

Waite 6 16 6 7 22 Jessiman 0 0

K. Thompson 1 6 0 0 3 Hostetter 11 14 2 7 24

Cram 0 0 0 0 0 Colbeth 1 3 4 6

L. Thompson 0 1 0 0 0 Sternbergh 6 10 1 2 13

Byron 4 11 2 3 10 Je. Ramsdll 3 10 0 0 9

Pelkey 2 8 4 4 9 Porter 0 0 0

Hutchins 0 1 1 3 1 Von Rotz 1 6

Farris 0 0 0 0

Totals 18 55 13 18 56 Totals 28 57 14 29 73

Schenck 15 28 46 56

Washington Acad. 10 35 53 73

3-pt. goals – Schenck (7-17): Waite 4-9, Lowell 1-2, K. Thompson 1-2, Pelkey 1-2, Byron 0-2; Washington Acad. (3-12): Je. Ramsdell 3-7, Ja. Ramsdell 0-1, Gray 0-2, Colbeth 0-2