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BANGOR – The Central Aroostook of Mars Hill boys basketball team is known for its high-scoring ways.
But it was defense that propelled the Panthers to a 79-62 victory over Valley of Bingham at the Bangor Auditorium on Thursday night and their first state Class D championship since 1996.
Central Aroostook limited the eight-time Western Maine champions to just 11 points over the first 10:30 of the second half to pull away, forcing 25 turnovers overall and holding Valley star Travis Hovey to a manageable 14 points and 14 rebounds.
“That’s not something that’s new to us,” said Valley coach Dwight Littlefield of the turnovers. “I thought defensively they did a great job. We didn’t get many good shots, and some of the good shots we got we didn’t finish.”
Team defense that did the trick for the champions. Junior guard Andrew York had six steals and three blocked shots, but it was just as much senior center Brock Burtt and junior guard Taylor McLaughlin that harassed Valley out of its offensive comfort zone.
“It’s a state championship game,” said CA senior guard Jason Woodworth. “We wanted it, we played with intensity, and we played defense. That’s how we score a lot of our points, off our defense.”
And indeed, the Panthers did score points.
Sophomore forward Tim Carlson lit up Valley for 22 of his game-high 28 points in the first half on 9 of 13 shooting, including four 3-point goals, as Central Aroostook grabbed a 41-37 lead.
“I’ve never seen that boy play like that before. That was a heck of a performance,” said Woodworth, who chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds. “But once Tim gets on a roll, he’s like [Duke University star] J.J. Redick. That’s what I call him, J.J. Redick, because he can shoot the lights out.”
After intermission, York took over, working his way inside to draw fouls and earn his way to the free-throw line. The Eastern Maine tourney MVP scored 14 of his 22 points after the break, making 10 of 12 from the line in the final two quarters.
“Coach [Tim Brewer] told me at halftime I needed to move it inside and get to the line,” said York. “I moved it inside and they fouled me, and I got to the line and made a fair percentage of my shots.”
York had 10 points in the third period as Central Aroostook pushed its lead to double digits, the first time on a follow-up shot by McLaughlin with 3:30 left in the period.
“They go to [York] a lot when they get in trouble,” said Littlefield. “They started right off early in the second half getting him the ball. We knew it was coming, but we just didn’t contain him.”
The Panthers (22-1) took a 57-46 lead into the fourth quarter, and extended it to as much as 65-48 on a York free throw with 5:35 left before Valley mounted one last comeback.
The Cavaliers (17-4) outscored Central Aroostook 12-2 to close within 67-60 on a steal and layup by Eric Hatfield with less than three minutes remaining, a run also fueled by a pair of 3-pointers by Cole Pullen (11 points).
But McLaughlin made two straight free throws and Carlson hit four straight from the line – his first points of the second half – to restore Central Aroostook to a 73-60 lead with 1:34 left.
“I basically told the kids we played well in the first half, and that we had to keep doing the same things we were doing offensively, and that defense and rebounding were what was going to win the game for us in the second half,” said Brewer, who also won a gold ball as a player with the Panthers in 1994. “I told them to play like the game was 0-0, and we had to come out and win every second, every minute, every quarter of the second half.
“That’s what they did, played like it was 0-0 all the time.”
And they have a championship to prove it.
PANTHERS 79, CAVALIERS 62
Valley (17-4) Cen. Aroostook (22-1)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Plourd 0 0 0 0 0 C. York 0 0 0
T. Giberson 4 8 0 1 9 McLaughlin 2 7
Melcher 3 9 1 2 7 A. York 5 11 12 16 22
Miller 0 0 0 0 0 Carlson 9 15 28
B. Giberson 0 0 0 0 0 Clockedile 1 2
Lay 0 0 0 0 0 Martinez 1 3 2
Pullen 4 6 0 0 11 Woodworth 4 11 2 2 11
Hovey 7 19 0 2 14 Burtt 2 4 5
Staples 1 1 1 2 4 Shaw 0 1 0
Gilbert 1 2 0 0 2 Donahue 0 0 2
Rich 0 1 0 0 0 McCartney 0 0 0
Hyland 3 9 1 2 9 White 0 1 0
Hatfield 2 3 2 4 6
Totals 25 58 5 13 62 Totals 24 56 26 36 79
Valley 12 37 46 62
Central Aroostook 24 41 57 79
3-pt. goals – Valley (7-16): Pullen 3-5, Hyland 2-7, T. Giberson 1-1, Staples 1-1, Rich 0-1, Melcher 0-1; Central Aroostook (5-18): Carlson 4-9, Woodworth 1-6, A. York 0-1, Clockedile 0-1, Martinez 0-1
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