ORONO – Locked in a tight battle at halftime Tuesday night, the red-hot Schenck Wolverines didn’t get frustrated.

They got more intense, and that enabled them to break the game open en route to a 60-37 boys basketball victory over the Orono Red Riots.

The East Millinocket team was able to lure Orono into a faster tempo after intermission, and that produced quicker shots by the Red Riots, who made just 3 of 17 field-goal attempts during the final two periods while committing 11 turnovers.

“We didn’t play defense with the intensity that we can play defense in the first half, and I thought we gave them some extra shots in the first half that we shouldn’t have given them,” said Schenck coach Steve LeVasseur.

“We threw a couple of traps at them in the second half and got them to throw the ball away a few times, and got a couple of steals out of it. I think we rattled them a little, and once we got ourselves going a little we were a lot better off.”

The win was the 11th straight for Schenck, at 11-1 the top-ranked team in the latest Eastern Maine Class D Heal Point ratings. Orono, which entered the game ranked sixth in Eastern C, fell to 6-5.

Schenck led just 28-26 at halftime and 32-28 midway through the third quarter before junior guard Mike Lowell struck the key offensive blows, a pair of 3-pointers from well beyond the arc that extended the Wolverines’ advantage to 38-29 with 2:33 left in the period.

After Orono’s Josh Craig hit 1 of 2 free throws and then a low-post basket to draw the Red Riots within seven, Schenck scored the final six points of the period. Kerry Thompson hit a runner from the lane, Nate Lewis took an inside pass from Chris Byron for a layup, and Lanny Thompson added two free throws after being fouled while trying to score after grabbing an offensive rebound at the buzzer to give Schenck a 44-31 lead.

The Wolverines then opened the fourth quarter with eight more unanswered points – six by Byron – to cap off a game-clinching 14-0 run.

“When [Lowell] hit those 3s, it loosened things up a little,” said LeVasseur. “When we started getting up by 11 or 12, that made Orono have to come out and chase us and they didn’t want to chase us. They’re bigger than we are, and it just opened everything up for us.”

Byron finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Kerry Thompson also scored 18 points and Lowell finished with 16.

Junior forward Seth Dwyer led Orono with 12 points, 10 in the first half.

Kerry Thompson opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers from the left corner to give Schenck a quick 6-0 lead, but Orono then used a 2-3 zone defense to slow the Wolverines’ normally up-tempo offense.

The Red Riots also shot effectively early, making 12 of 23 field goal tries in the opening two quarters to hang within two points at intermission.

“We played well in the first half,” said Orono coach Ben Goodwin. “We went to a zone and were forcing them to try to make shots. In the first half we did a good job getting out on their shooters and their shots weren’t going, and we slowed it down on offense and got the looks we wanted.”

“I think we rushed it a lot more in the second half. We weren’t as patient, and we didn’t give Schenck a chance to have to play defense on us.”

WOLVERINES 60, RED RIOTS 37

Schenck (11-1) Orono (6-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Byron 5 11 8 10 18 Garcia 0 0 0

Graham 0 1 0 0 0 Rmrsma 1 3 2

K.Thmpsn 7 14 2 4 18 Spencer 3 7 6

Lewis 2 4 0 0 4 Bates 2 4 4

Lowell 6 14 2 3 16 Nason 1 2 2

McLghlin 0 3 0 0 0 Bryant 0 1 0

L.Thmpsn 0 0 2 2 2 Dwyer 4 15 12

Hutchins 1 1 0 0 2 Tomer 0 2 2

Hecker 1 3 0 2

Henigan 2 2 0 4

Keezer 0 0 0 0

Craig 1 1 1 3

Levasseur 0 1 0

Totals 21 48 14 19 60 Totals 15 41 12 37

Schenck 16 28 44 60

Orono 8 26 31 37

3-pt. goals – Schenck (4-17): K. Thompson 2-7, Lowell 2-8, Byron 0-1, Graham 0-1; Orono (0-5): Riemersma 0-1, Dwyer 0-4

JV: Orono 67-63

Attendance: 300 (est.)