MILO – Through nearly two quarters of play Saturday night, Jordan Pelkey studied as he defended.

What the Schenck of East Millinocket guard saw was opportunity, and that vision produced two straight steals that fueled the go-ahead run as the undefeated Wolverines earned a 54-52 schoolboy basketball victory over Penquis.

Nick Bishop provided 22 points and 14 rebounds for Schenck, while frontcourt mate Chris Byron scored 13 and Pelkey added nine points, four assists, and three steals.

“We knew we wanted to try to get Bishop and Byron involved down low and we did a pretty good job of moving the ball at times,” said Schenck coach Steve LeVasseur.

Schenck’s eighth win didn’t come easily, because Penquis was intent on avenging last month’s 28-point loss to the Wolverines at East Millinocket.

“We knew this was going to be a tough place to play,” said Bishop. “They have a good coach [Tony Hamlin] and are a real disciplined team. But we knew if we played together and played as a team we could come out on top.”

Penquis shot Schenck out of the zone defense it played to start the game, with Alex Zwicker burying three 3-point goals to lead the Patriots to a 19-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Wolverines switched to man-to-man and soon narrowed the gap. Byron took a feed from Pelkey for a three-point play and Bishop hit two free throws to pull the Wolverines within 21-20 with 2:18 left in the half.

The Penquis lead was 23-22 when Pelkey made his defensive statement with two straight steals. The first time, he went in for a layup to give Schenck a lead it kept the rest of the night. The next time, he dove to save the ball and fed Byron, who passed to Bishop for a layup to highlight the run of 10 unanswered points.

“I noticed earlier in the game that they would come back to get the ball,” said Pelkey. “I was reading them; I was sitting and waiting for it. I got it the first time, and I was watching and they did it again, so I was waiting for it again.”

Penquis (4-4) played catchup the rest of the way, initially hanging within 30-26 at intermission as Kole Stevens scored at the buzzer.

Schenck capitalized on Penquis turnovers and its own inside play to extend the lead to 39-28 midway through the third quarter, as Bishop went inside for a three-point play and a post move and fed Byron for a layup to account for a 7-0 run.

“There was a period in the third quarter when we turned the ball over on three straight possessions and each time they got an easy basket, and that was the turning point of the game,” said Zwicker, who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.

A halfcourt shot by Nathan Allen (13 points) pulled Penquis within 42-35 at the end of the period and kicked off an 11-3 run that closed the gap to 45-43 on an inside basket by Stevens (10 points) with 5:48 left.

Again, Schenck’s defense rose up, this time as Lanny Thompson took a steal in for a layup before Bishop scored on a put-back to restore the Wolverines to a 49-43 lead with 3:50 left.

A 3-pointer by Zwicker rallied Penquis within a single possession at 51-48, and the senior guard added two free throws to cut the margin to 52-50 with 24 seconds left, but Schenck sealed the game when Mike Lowell fed Kerry Thompson for a layup with 16 seconds remaining.

WOLVERINES 54, PATRIOTS 52

Schenck (8-0) Penquis (4-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bishop 8 9 6 9 22 Landry 0 0 0

Landry 0 0 0 0 0 Carey 0 2 1

Pelkey 4 7 1 2 9 Morrill 2 4 6

Byron 3 9 7 10 13 A.Zwicker 4 12 6 6 18

K.Thmpsn 3 7 0 2 7 Berry 2 8 4

Lowell 0 1 0 0 0 Stevens 5 9 10

McLaughln 0 0 0 0 0 Allen 6 12 13

L.Thmpsn 1 1 1 2 3 London 0 0 0

B.Zwicker 0 0 0

Totals 19 34 15 25 54 Totals 19 47 11 52

Schenck 11 30 42 54

Penquis 19 26 35 52

3-pt. goals – Schenck (1-8): K. Thompson 1-5, Pelkey 0-1, Byron 0-1, Lowell 0-1; Penquis (5-11): A. Zwicker 4-8, Allen 1-3

JV: Schenck 67-50

Attendance: 600 (est.)