Meehan’s defense pivotal in HA’s title-winning run Single coverage on Cook, foul trouble hurt Deering

BANGOR – Blaine Meehan earned Eastern Maine Class A all-tournament honors largely because of his defense.

But one more challenge remained for the 5-foot-10 Hampden Academy senior: Deering of Portland junior Carlos Strong, MVP of the Western A tournament and the leading scorer in the Southern Maine Activities Association during the regular season with 18.5 points per game.

The 6-2 Strong had a 4-inch height advantage and was quick both with and without the ball, but none of that worked against Meehan.

Strong shot 1 of 10 in the first half and 3 of 15 through three quarters.

“Blaine chased him around all day,” said Hampden coach Russ Bartlett after the Broncos’ 59-49 win over Deering in Saturday’s Class A state final at the Bangor Auditorium.

“The thing about Blaine is he’s fast, but he’s very physical, too. You don’t get much separation from him; he bodies you a lot. And then when you catch the ball, he makes you uncomfortable.”

Strong finished with 18 points on 8 of 22 shooting, with eight points coming in the final two minutes of the game after Hampden had built a double-digit cushion.

“Carlos is an amazing player. Everyone knows he’s one of the best in the state,” said Meehan. “He’s quick, he’s athletic, he can jump through the roof, and he’s a great shooter. You just have to stick with him and hope to get a hand in his face just like everyone else.”

Through the Eastern Maine tournament and state final, Meehan used that strategy to limit the players he was guarding to a combined 28 percent (20 of 71) shooting from the field.

“I was a little bit worried about Strong’s quickness; he’s probably the quickest guy I’ve seen that Blaine’s had to guard,” said Bartlett. “I was a little concerned that his quickness might create some opportunities, but we hedge-helped well, and I think Blaine just really showed that he can handle about anybody in the state if you’re under 6-5.”

Single coverage to Cook’s liking

Jordan Cook isn’t surprised by any defensive alignment he faces.

Being a 6-foot-10 high school basketball player in Maine automatically makes you a point of emphasis for opposing coaches.

But the Hampden Academy junior was pleasantly surprised by what greeted him at the outset of Saturday’s Class A final between the Broncos and Deering of Portland: honest-to-goodness single coverage.

“I thought they would double me,” said Cook. “But coach [Russ Bartlett] scouted them and said they didn’t double the 6-10 kid Cheverus had [in the Western Maine final], so he didn’t think they would double me. It made it a lot easier and opened things up inside, and our offense just flowed better.”

Cook got off to a fast start against Deering and its 6-6 center, Martin Cleveland. He made his first four shots to stake the Broncos to an early lead, and shot 5 of 10 from the field in the first half as Hampden earned a 21-19 edge.

He also got both Cleveland and backup Randy Hansen in foul trouble, a factor that paid dividends for Cook in the second half when he scored 13 of his game-high 23 points.

“I was surprised they didn’t double-team him until the second half,” said Bartlett. “Everybody runs a second guy at him, or when they play zone, they usually pinch a few guys toward him.

“In the first half, I was very happy to see that they were going to try to just put one guy on him. We had talked about how they might try that where they hadn’t seen him play a lot. If you don’t see him play a lot, you might not think he needs to be double-teamed, but he does.”

Rams befelled by fouls

Foul trouble plagued Deering throughout the state final. By halftime, Cleveland had three fouls, while three other teammates had two each.

Then in the third quarter, Deering picked up eight quick team fouls – putting Cleveland and point guard Pat Plourd on the bench with four each and Hansen on the bench permanently with five with still 3:48 left in the third quarter.

Hampden did a decent job capitalizing on its free-throw opportunities, making 17 of 24 overall, 10 of 12 in the fourth quarter. Meehan was the chief beneficiary, making 9 of 12 overall, 6 of 7 in the second half.

Deering, meanwhile, made just 5 of 14 from the line, 2 of 9 in the final two periods, and 1 of 6 in the fourth quarter.

“Getting them in foul trouble was big for us,” said Bartlett. “Once they came out and got in foul trouble early in the third quarter, we knew we were going to be going to the line a lot and we just had to make them.”