Dexter boys boast 7-game win streak Tigers regrouped behind stingy defense

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As the Genie portable lift elevated a member of the Dexter High custodial staff toward the ceiling of Guiski Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon to contain a leak in the roof, the flashbacks were inevitable.

Twenty years earlier, a similar lift was brought in to deal with a leak in the Bangor Auditorium roof, setting the stage for one of the most dramatic nights in Maine basketball history – an evening capped off after midnight when Dexter outlasted Rockland 63-61 in five overtimes to win the 1986 Eastern Maine Class B title.

“We were talking about that,” said Peter Murray, the boys varsity coach at Dexter, who was an assistant coach on the 1986 squad. “John Shoppe reffed the five-overtime game, and he was reffing here Saturday, too. I asked him if it reminded him of anything.”

As in 1986, the leak was contained, and Dexter went on to an overtime victory – the latest one a single-overtime 47-41 win over Central of Corinth.

As in 1986, this year’s Dexter team is the defending Eastern Maine champ, this time in Class C. But while the 1986 squad was a veteran unit, this year’s team has a different look from the 2005 edition.

Six of last year’s top seven players graduated, but the Tigers have regrouped quite nicely, with their seven-game winning streak elevating them to an 8-2 record and second place in the latest Heal Point ratings.

“The last three or four years, it’s been pretty easy to coach here, because there was a group that had played together since first grade,” Murray said. “This year the first three or four games people were unsure of their roles. It’s just been a slow, gradual progress.”

Defense has sparked the Tigers’ success. Since yielding 54 points in back-to-back losses to Penobscot Valley of Howland and Central, Dexter has not allowed more than 42 points in a game.

“At the beginning of the year I felt we could extend the court and be a pressing team due to our quickness,” said Murray. “As it turned out, the kids seem to be more comfortable playing in the half-court.”

Senior Ryan Martin, an Eastern Maine Class C all-tourney honorable mention choice a year ago, leads the team in scoring, rebounds and assists, but fellow veterans Nick Peirce and Brad Lavin have played key roles, Lavin stepping in at point guard. Other key contributors have included Brandon Woodman, Adam Eastman and Steve Robinson, a 6-foot-4 junior who is back after missing three games due to a back injury.

“Early in the season when we were struggling from time to time, [Ryan] was carrying the team,” said Murray. “But as the season has gone along other people have stepped up.”

A 48-42 win Jan. 5 at Penquis of Milo in a rematch of the 2005 Eastern C final boosted the Tigers’ confidence, Murray said. The team has won three straight since then, avenging their only losses along the way.

“We’ve got a nice run going,” said Murray, whose club plays at Hermon tonight.

Witches reflect Eastern A parity

For evidence of parity within the middle of the Eastern Maine Class A boys basketball ranks, look no further than Brewer High School.

The Witches are just 4-7 overall, but have beaten three of the top eight teams in the latest Heal Point ratings in No. 5 Bangor, No. 7 Lewiston and No. 8 Lawrence of Fairfield.

And consider their last four games, all of the nail-biting variety:

. A 32-30 loss to Old Town, in which a shot from beyond half-court by guard Chris Wilson went cleanly through the basket – just after the final buzzer sounded. That marked Old Town’s lone win of the season.

. A 39-37 victory at 8-3 Bangor, ending the Rams’ six-game winning streak.

. A 70-68 double-overtime loss to Erskine Academy of South China, which marked Erskine’s second win of the season.

. A 66-59 triple-overtime victory Monday over 7-5 Lawrence of Fairfield, which avenged an earlier loss and, like the Bangor victory, garnered Brewer a ton of Heal points.

Brewer’s wild ride extends beyond that four-game span. After a 1-3 start, the Witches dropped a one-point decision to 7-3 Messalonskee before earning a 78-60 road win against Lewiston, which entered that contest with a 6-0 record and is now 7-4. Brewer then suffered its second loss of the season to Hampden Academy before squaring off against Old Town.

The Witches, 10th in the latest Heal points before their win over Lawrence, return to action Friday at Old Town.

Bird’s eye finds bulls eye

There’s no formal record book that keeps track of such standards as most free throws made in a game without a miss.

But it’s safe to say Tom Bird’s 24-for-24 performance for Lee Academy in its 61-46 victory at Katahdin of Stacyville on Tuesday night was among the best Maine schoolboy basketball has ever seen.

The 6-foot-1 junior made eight free throws in the second quarter, four more in the third period and then 12 tries from the line in the fourth quarter – when Lee as a team did not make a field goal but shot 17 for 18 from the line to top the previously unbeaten Cougars.

“He’s a really good offensive player,” said Lee coach Randy Harris. “At times he forces things and that’s where he gets his foul trouble sometimes, from offensive fouls because he’s so aggressive going to the basket. But he’s our best foul shooter, so if someone’s going to get fouled I’m glad it’s him.”

Bird wasn’t sure exactly how many free throws he had attempted as the fourth quarter progressed but knew they all had gone in – and that thought entered his mind as he went to the line for the final time in the game’s final moments.

“I was thinking about it, especially on the last two because I knew I hadn’t missed and I really didn’t want to, I wanted to go perfect,” said Bird, who was coming off a 12-of-14 effort from the line in an overtime win against Washington Academy of East Machias on Saturday.

A 78 percent free-throw shooter for the season entering the game, Bird said he has had most of that success at Linscott Gym in Lee.

“We have a new ball for home games,” he said. “We use a Reebok ball for home games, and I usually don’t miss many, maybe one a game,” he said. “But in away games I miss like three every game. I kept telling myself it was the ball, but I guess it isn’t the ball now.”