THORNDIKE – After erupting offensively during a season-ending 89-59 victory over Mount View on Tuesday night, the Maranacook Black Bears immediately turned their attention to the upcoming tournament – and defense.

“I think we’re OK,” said junior guard Ryan Martin, who scored a game-high 23 points as Maranacook of Readfield finished its regular season with a 16-2 record.

“But we’ve obviously got to pick up our defense because we know our offense isn’t going to carry us in the tournament. We have to play good defense to be able to win,” Martin added.

Maranacook’s defense was inconsistent against Mount View, but the offense was at its high-octane best – particularly during the first quarter when the defending Class B state champions shot 13 of 17 from the field overall, 6 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Black Bears forced the pace of the game with full-court pressure, inducing eight first-quarter turnovers from the Mustangs that produced a myriad of transition opportunities.

“We try to come out like that every time,” said Maranacook junior point guard Mike Poulin, who finished the night with 15 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. “We just need to focus on our defense more and keep shooting like we have.”

Martin had 11 points and junior guard Will Bardaglio had 10 while making all three of his 3-point tries as Maranacook built a 35-18 lead by the end of the opening quarter.

Maranacook stayed on the accelerator in the second period, but attacked more on the interior and was rewarded by a procession to the free-throw line, where senior forward Justin Denbow (10 points, six rebounds) made 5 of 6 and the Black Bears hit 9 of 11 overall while building their halftime lead to 60-29.

Mount View (6-11) may have been watching Maranacook’s first-quarter game tape at intermission, because the Mustangs came out firing in the third quarter.

Coach Gary Colson’s club shot 6 of 7 from beyond the arc in the first 3 minutes, 41 seconds of the period, with junior swingman Josh St. Clair making all four of his tries. Yet the burst got the Mustangs only within 20 at 69-49 with 3:13 left in the period.

“We had a huge mental letup in the first few minutes of the third quarter,” said Maranacook coach Rob Schmidt, “That’s the type of letup that can bump you out of the tournament in Bangor, so I was very unhappy with that.”

Maranacook countered with a 13-2 run to close out the period. Conrad Gilman came off the Black Bears’ bench to contribute an inside basket and a three-point play off an offensive rebound, and when Poulin drove the lane for a layup in the final seconds, Maranacook was back to an 82-51 cushion.

Bardaglio added 17 points for Maranacook, while Ethan Jean led Mount View with 13 points and St. Clair finished with 12.

The win should ensure Maranacook the No. 1 ranking in Eastern B heading into postseason play. As the week began the Black Bears had just a four-point advantage over No. 2 Ellsworth.

BLACK BEARS 89, MUSTANGS 59

Maranacook (16-2) Mount View (6-11)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Denbow 2 6 6 10 10 Mehuren 1 3 3

Hewett 1 1 0 1 2 Keller 2 4 5

Justard 0 0 0 0 0 Jean 5 8 13

Leary 2 6 2 2 7 St. Clair 4 12

Galouch 0 3 0 1 0 Price 0 6 0

Poulin 5 7 4 5 15 Derby 0 4 0

Martin 11 17 0 0 23 Carter 2 4 6

Bardaglio 6 8 2 2 17 Miles 3 9 6

HodWells 0 2 1 2 1 Merrifield 1 3

Gilman 3 4 1 2 7 Piersiak 1 2

Bean 0 2 0 0 0 Caron 4 8 1 9

Gerrity 3 4 1 1 7

Totals 33 60 17 26 89 Totals 23 61 19 59

Maranacook 35 60 82 89

Mount View 18 29 51 59

3-pt. goals – Maranacook (6-13): Bardaglio 3-5, Leary 1-2, Poulin 1-2, Martin 1-2, Denbow 0-1, Gerrity 0-1; Mount View (7-18): St. Clair 4-6, Mehuren 1-2, Merrifield 1-2, Keller 1-3, Derby 0-1, Caron 0-1, Miles 0-1, Price 0-2

JV: Maranacook 64-62

Attendance: 500 (est.)