March 28, 2024
SCHOOLBOY BASKETBALL

MDI’s Parady, Young nail 3-pointers, sink Presque Isle

BAR HARBOR – The Mount Desert Island boys basketball team powered its way to victory in its first two games this season with a strong inside game.

But the Trojans made their mark from the perimeter Saturday afternoon, shooting 10 of 18 from beyond the 3-point arc en route to a 64-53 Big East Conference Class B victory over the Presque Isle Wildcats at Parady Gymnasium.

Senior guard Sean Parady made three 3-pointers in the game’s first five minutes in the gymnasium named for his grandfather, and MDI made five of its first six tries from beyond the arc overall during that span to grab a quick 15-7 lead.

And after Presque Isle closed to within three points early in the second half, junior guard Ben Young made three 3-pointers within a two-minute time frame to restore the 3-0 Trojans to a more comfortable advantage.

“Normally we just shoot a few a game,” said Young, who made five 3-pointers overall and finished with a team-high 17 points. “But today we were on, so we shoot them when they’re going in.”

Presque Isle (2-2) did cut the gap to 52-48 early in the fourth quarter on an inside basket by Gabe Cheney, but MDI’s Jake Sattler sandwiched a baseline drive and a free throw around two free throws by Wes Chipman as the Trojans extended their lead back to 57-48 with 5:38 left.

“We were about a step behind all day, and MDI just played great,” said Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott, whose team was without starting point guard Logan York, sidelined by a hip pointer suffered during the Wildcats’ 61-59 win at Ellsworth on Friday night.

“You shoot that percentage from the 3-point line, and you’re not going to lose to anybody, I don’t think,” said Prescott. “We gave up some we shouldn’t have given up, but they still had to make them. I thought they executed very well.”

The win completes a weekend sweep for MDI over its visiting Aroostook County rivals, coming less than 24 hours after a 54-41 win over Caribou here Friday night.

“A lot of our points [Friday] were on the interior,” said MDI coach Wilton Jones. “But Presque Isle’s a pretty big team, and early on they were going to try to make us earn it from the outside, but we got good looks and my kids took good shots. The shots were there, and they just happened to be going in.”

Parady finished with 15 points for MDI, 13 in the first half, while frontcourt mates Chipman and Andrew Veilleux, both hampered by foul trouble, rotated in and out of the lineup and combined for 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Presque Isle sought to capitalize on an inside game featuring junior center Adam Kingsbury. It worked to some degree, with Kingsbury totaling a game-high 21 points and five rebounds while inducing foul trouble from the MDI big men, but good perimeter defensive pressure by the Trojans served to thwart the consistency of the Wildcats’ attack.

“They do have a really good post player in Kingsbury and we just wanted to shut him down and make their guys shoot from the outside,” said Young. “We wanted to put pressure on the guards and not let them enter the ball.”

Sophomore guard Russ Mortland contributed a strong game for Presque Isle, finishing with 17 points and six rebounds.

TROJANS 64, WILDCATS 53

Presque Isle (2-2) MDI (3-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Richards 1 3 0 0 3 Parady 5 9 15

Ackerson 0 1 2 2 2 Sattler 1 1 3

Legassie 0 0 0 0 0 Merchant 3 6

Gallant 1 5 0 0 3 Walton 1 8 3

D.Kingsbry 0 0 0 0 0 Swanson 1 1 2

Cheney 3 8 0 1 6 Young 5 6 17

Mortland 7 10 0 1 17 Mitchell 1 3

A.Kingsbry 8 15 4 8 21 Veilleux 2 5

Ireland 0 2 0 0 0 Chipman 2 2 10

Cassidy 0 0 0 0 0

Braley 0 0 1 2 1

Totals 20 44 7 14 53 Totals 21 39 12 21 64

Presque Isle 12 30 46 53

Mount Desert Island 19 37 52 64

3-pt. goals – Presque Isle (6-14): Mortland 3-4, A. Kingsbury 1-2, Richards 1-3, Gallant 1-3, Cheney 0-2; MDI (10-18): Young 5-6, Parady 3-5, Mitchell 1-1, Walton 1-6

JV: MDI 72-45

Attendance: 250 (est.)


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