GUILFORD – Roy Burdin presents opposing defenses with enough of a challenge based on his height and quickness around the basket alone.

But in his 2006-07 debut Saturday night, the 6-foot-5 senior center showed off a more recently developed part of his game – the 3-point shot.

Burdin hit twice from beyond the arc and scored nine of his game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter as Piscataquis Community High pulled away from Dexter 52-35 in a boys basketball season opener.

Burdin shot 6-of-9 from the field overall and 2-of-2 from 3-point land – his sixth and seventh career 3-pointers – to help one of the preseason favorites in Eastern Maine Class C emerge victorious in a defensive battle typical of the recent rivalry between these neighboring schools.

“The positive thing about Roy is now he can face the basket and score and he can put his back to the basket and score. He can go either way,” said PCHS coach Jamie Russell. “He can go to the middle, and he can go to the basket off the dribble. He’s really improved his game.”

Mike Wharff added eight points and Andy Zimmerman six to a balanced PCHS attack – nine different Pirates scored – while Brandon London contributed four points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Zach Leal led Dexter with 10 points, but the Tigers shot just 24 percent (12 of 49) from the field.

“I’m not disappointed in our defensive effort,” said Dexter coach Peter Murray. “Defensively, I thought we played a solid game, and that’s something we’ve been concentrating on because we know offense is going to come hard for us.”

The teams combined for 21 turnovers during a sluggish first half that ended with PCHS clinging to a 19-18 lead, and Dexter was still within 32-29 when Gavin Cote (seven points, five rebounds) made a free throw nine seconds into the fourth quarter.

But in less than a minute, Burdin gave PCHS breathing room. First, he took a feed from Wharff, spun through the lane, and converted a reverse layup. Then he took a pass from Jarrod Robinson and buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving the Pirates a 37-29 lead with 6:20 to play.

“I’ve been working a lot on shooting 3s during the off-season,” said Burdin. “I had to expand my game a little bit to keep them off me.”

Dexter’s Steve Robinson countered with two free throws, but Burdin and teammate Ryan Martell each made two from the line to start a game-clinching 14-0 run – including 8-of-8 on free throws as Robinson and Dexter point guard Aaron Woodman each fouled out within a 35-second span.

Martell soon added two more free throws as part of a back-breaking four-point possession, as he converted after being intentionally fouled while going in for a fast-break layup. PCHS got the ball back, and Andy Zimmerman made a layup off a London assist to stretch the Pirates’ lead to 45-31 with four minutes left.

“The biggest thing was that we stopped throwing the ball all around the gym like we did in the first half,” said Russell. “We kept bringing Roy away from the basket to solve our problems, but once we got him back inside, I thought that was a big difference.”

“They’re a good team, a quality team, the best team in our area,” added Murray, “but we hung with them as best as we could.”

PIRATES 52, TIGERS 35

Dexter (0-1) Piscataquis (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

A. Wdman 1 6 4 4 6 Billstone 1 5

E. Wdman 0 2 0 0 0 Burdin 6 9 18

Spizuoco 1 3 0 0 2 Douglass 1 2

Stewart 0 3 0 0 0 Tracy 1 4 4

Beatham 2 13 0 1 4 Martell 0 0 4

Leal 2 6 6 6 10 Ja.Rbnsn 0 1 1

Robinson 2 7 0 2 4 Russell 0 1 0

Peirce 1 1 0 1 2 Ward 0 0 0

Cangelosi 0 0 0 0 0 Wharff 4 10 8

Eastman 0 0 0 0 0 Zimmrmn 3 3 6

Clark 0 1 0 0 0 London 1 5 4

Cote 3 7 1 2 7 Lovell 0 0 0 0

Totals 12 49 11 16 35 Totals 17 37 15 22 52

Dexter 6 18 28 35

Piscataquis 8 19 32 52

3-pt. goals – Dexter (0-10): Beatham 0-6, A. Woodman 0-2, E. Woodman 0-1, Leal 0-1; Piscataquis (3-10): Burdin 2-2, Tracy 1-2, Ja. Robinson 0-1, Russell 0-1, Wharff 0-4

JV: Piscataquis 49-38

Attendance: 450 (est.)