Bradford leads East C-D stars West wins A-B contest 104-74

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BANGOR – Brock Bradford put his homecourt advantage to good use Saturday afternoon – even though the Bangor Christian senior was playing his final high school basketball game on a collegiate court.

The 6-foot senior guard scored a game-high 20 points to lead the East C-D all-stars to a 92-83 victory over the West in the final game of the 26th annual Maine McDonald’s East-West Senior All-Star Games at Husson College.

Bradford shot 8-for-11 from the field overall and made all four of his 3-point shots on the same floor where Bangor Christian plays its home games.

“I really like shooting in this Husson gym,” said Bradford, who scored more than 1,500 points during his high school career. “It’s a great court, a shooter-friendly court, and I like it.”

That East win averted a West sweep of the day’s four games, including the West A-B boys’ 104-74 romp over the East. That marked the most points scored by an A-B boys team since a 117-100 East victory in 1994, and the most by a West A-B team since its 116-97 win in 1992.

The C-D boys game featured a blend of long-range shooting and quick-strike inside play. Bradford scored 13 points and Madawaska’s Mark Sirois and Schenck’s Nick Bishop each added six to stake the East to a 45-39 halftime lead, but Winthrop’s Tyler Smithgall scored 10 straight West points to give his team a 52-51 lead with 13:10 left in the game – which featured two 16-minute halves.

That lead grew to as much as 64-58 on two free throws by Travis Hovey of Valley of Bingham before the East rallied, with a subsequent 12-0 run to take the lead for good.

Bradford hit a jumper, then Sirois scored on an offensive rebound. Washburn’s Zach Bird followed with a jumper before Matt Cummings of Penobscot Valley of Howland struck from beyond the arc and Sirois took a feed from Madawaska teammate Alan Campbell for a layup to give the East a 75-68 cushion.

The West crept within 80-77 on a 3-pointer by Tom Bragg of Hyde of Bath with 3 minutes left, but Dexter’s Ryan Martin hit two 3-pointers and Bradford made a 15-footer to put the game away.

Campbell finished with 11 points for the East, while Sirois had 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds and Cummings also scored 10 points.

“It was quicker but more physical,” said Sirois of the game’s pace. “They let you play and bang bodies, and it was fun.”

Smithgall led the West with 17 points and five rebounds, while Bragg scored 13 points, Hovey had 11 and Telstar of Bethel’s Sean Caddigan and Brad Loon of Jay added 10 each – Loon despite dislocating a finger during the game’s opening minutes.

In the A-B game, the West shot 62 percent (13 of 21) from beyond the 3-point arc to set the stage for its high-scoring win.

“That’s unbelievable,” said Graham Whitelaw of Cheverus of Portland, who made 4 of 6 3-point tries. “I think everyone was just feeling relaxed, there was no pressure. You want to win, but you have no pressure so you come out and shoot your shots, and you get in a rhythm.”

Whitelaw and Cheverus teammate Sean Costigan each made three 3-pointers in the first half, when the teams combined for 15 baskets from beyond the arc and the West edged out to a 54-41 lead.

Two teammates from Class A state champion Deering of Portland then took over, as West guards Carlos Strong and Joseph Nguany each scored 15 points in the second half.

Strong shot 7-of-7 from the field after the break, and scored eight straight West points during a one-minute stretch to give his team a 68-52 lead.

“It’s a different type of game,” Strong said. “You just play to your strengths, it’s more individual-based. We just go out to have fun and play the way we want to, we really don’t have to worry about anything else.”

Strong led the West with 17 points. Nguany and Whitelaw each scored 16, while Costigan added 15 and Gorham’s Jeff Manchester and Mr. Basketball Bryant Barr of Falmouth added 10 points each,

Jordan Cook of Hampden Academy and Matt MacKenzie of Medomak Valley of Waldoboro paced the East with 13 points each. Steve Wells of Mt. Blue of Farmington added 12.

“In a game like this they pick the best shooters to come and play, so usually it’s an up-and-down offensive type of game,” said MacKenzie. “It definitely showed today.”

WEST A-B BOYS 104, EAST 74

West East

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Barr 4 5 0 0 10 Bouchard 3 9 8

Cleveland 0 5 0 0 0 Cook 5 6 13

Costigan 5 7 2 2 15 Daley 2 6 7

Geoghegn 0 7 5 6 5 Eichinger 2 6

Manchestr 4 6 1 1 10 Kelly 1 7 2

Mason 3 6 0 0 7 MacKnzie 6 13

Nguany 6 9 2 3 16 Uhrin 2 5 5

Strong 8 10 1 1 17 Wells 4 9 12

Thomas 3 5 2 3 8 Whitaker 1 3

Whitelaw 6 12 0 0 16 Wilson 2 4 5

Totals 39 72 13 16 104 Totals 28 65 16 74

West 47 104

East 41 74

3-pt. goals – West (13-21): Whitelaw 4-6, Costigan 3-4, Nguany 2-2, Barr 2-3, Mason 1-2, Manchester 1-3, Strong 0-1; East (10-29): Wells 3-6, Eichinger 2-4, Daley 1-1, Uhrin 1-2, Whitaker 1-3, Wilson 1-3, Bouchard 1-5, MacKenzie 0-2, Kelly 0-3

EAST C-D BOYS 92, WEST 83

West East

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bragg 5 5 0 0 13 Bird 3 4 8

Caddigan 4 9 0 0 10 Bishop 1 5 8

Chin 2 6 0 0 6 Bradford 8 11 20

Gallant 2 3 0 0 5 Campbell 5 13 1 4 11

Hinkley 0 2 2 2 2 Cummings 4 10

Hovey 4 5 2 2 11 Henry 2 3 4

Loon 5 6 0 2 10 Martin 3 3 0 8

Skillings 2 5 0 0 4 McCarthy 2 5

Smithgall 6 10 3 4 17 Sirois 4 9 10

Steuber 2 4 0 0 5 York 3 10 8

Totals 32 55 7 10 83 Totals 35 73 11 14 92

West 39 83

East 45 92

3-pt. goals – West (12-23): Bragg 3-3, Smithgall 2-3, Caddigan 2-5, Chin 2-6, Hovey 1-1, Steuber 1-2, Gallant 1-2, Skillings 0-1; East (11-23): Bradford 4-4, Martin 2-2, Cummings 2-4, York 2-5, McCarthy 1-4, Bishop 0-1, Sirois 0-1, Campbell 0-2