CORINTH – Penquis Valley of Milo is among a cluster of Class C boys basketball teams hoping to earn a top-five finish in its division in order to earn a bye directly to the regional quarterfinals at the Bangor Auditorium come February vacation week.

The Patriots entered Thursday night’s game against Central – a team in a similar situation – knowing a win was essential to that cause with just two weeks left in the regular season and kept those hopes alive with a hard-fought 35-34 victory.

“We’ve been kind of struggling the last two or three or four weeks, and we needed this,” said Penquis coach Tony Hamlin. “This was a gut check, and the kids hung in there. We were down seven at the half and could have faded, but in the second half, the kids played hard.”

Penquis, 8-5 and ranked seventh as the week began, managed only 13 first-half points, 10 by junior forward Russell Berry. But its zone defense kept the Patriots close, and the use of a man-to-man set after intermission helped force 11 second-half turnovers by Central – which had one before the break.

“We just tried to change up and make them think a little bit,” said Hamlin. “Defensively, we just hung in there. Our zone helped, too, because anytime a team has to change gears offensively and reorganize you’ve got a slight advantage.”

Berry finished with 12 points and six rebounds, while the Patriots also got key play off the bench from junior forward Kole Stevens and senior guard Luke Landry, who combined for eight of the Patriots’ 14 fourth-quarter points.

Penquis trailed 24-21 entering the final period, but Stevens followed in his own miss and Landry took a midcourt steal in for a layup to give the Patriots a 25-24 edge – their first lead since 11-10 on a 3-pointer by Alex Zwicker with 2:54 left in the first half.

Landry’s basket produced the first of five consecutive lead changes, the final one coming when Stevens powered between two defenders for a basket to give Penquis a 29-28 lead with 2:30 left.

Landry followed with a tough-angle shot from under the basket between a pair of Central defenders to give the Patriots a 31-28 edge, and they took their largest lead at 33-29 on a low-post move by Zwicker.

Central’s Jon Perkins scored off a feed from talented point guard Danny Kane, but Justin Morrill made two free throws with 30.5 seconds left to restore Penquis to a four-point edge.

Kane followed with a driving basket to pull Central within 35-33 with 21 seconds left, and the Red Devils got the ball back after Berry missed the front end of a one-and-one with 12.8 seconds remaining.

Central had a chance to tie when Kane was fouled with 3.9 seconds to play. He made the first of his two shots, but missed the second after a Penquis timeout and Berry rebounded for the Patriots.

The free-throw line proved to be a nemesis for the Red Devils, who made just 6 of 17 attempts.

“That’s been our Achilles heel all year,” said Central coach Harold Williams, whose team dips to 10-4 after starting the week ranked fourth in Eastern C. “We haven’t shot 70 percent from the line all year. It’s one thing we continue to work at, and we’ll get better. Time’s running out, but we’ll get better.”

Kane finished with 12 points and four assists for Central, which was playing its final home game of the season.

PATRIOTS 35, RED DEVILS 34

Penquis (8-5) Central (10-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Berry 5 10 2 6 12 Kane 5 10 1 4 12

Landry 2 4 0 0 4 LaFlmme 1 4 0 0 2

Carey 0 1 0 0 0 Perkins 3 6 0 0 7

Stevens 3 6 0 2 6 Pineo 2 11 2 4 8

Allen 2 10 2 2 6 Fenn 0 1 0 0 0

Morrill 0 3 2 2 2 Palmer 0 0 0 0 0

B. Zwicker 0 0 0 0 0 L.Nickrsn 1 3 0 1 2

A. Zwicker 2 9 0 0 5 Collins 0 1 0 0 0

R.Nickrsn 0 1 3 8 3

Totals 14 43 6 12 35 Totals 12 37 6 17 34

Penquis 6 13 21 35

Central 10 20 24 34

3-pt. goals – Penquis (1-9): A. Zwicker 1-4, Landry 0-1, Allen 0-4; Central (4-13): Pineo 2-7, Kane 1-3, Perkins 1-1, LaFlamme 0-1, Fenn 0-1

JV: Central 38-35

Attendance: 400 (est.)