Lee Academy wins with pressure Tom Bird leads No. 4 Pandas over Limestone boys, 67-49

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BANGOR – Even the most veteran of high school basketball players gets excited come tournament time.

So it was with Lee Academy senior forward Tom Bird early in Monday night’s Eastern Maine Class D boys basketball quarterfinal against Limestone Community School-Maine School of Science and Mathematics.

But a couple of moments on the bench enabled Bird to regroup, and fullcourt defensive pressure helped Lee to speed up the game to its liking as the fourth-ranked Pandas earned a 67-49 victory at the Bangor Auditorium.

Bird scored a game-high 26 points as Lee (13-7) advanced to an 8:35 p.m. regional semifinal Thursday against No. 1 Schenck of East Millinocket, which defeated No. 8 Washburn 72-48 in Monday’s nightcap.

Man-to-man fullcourt defense helped the Pandas rally from an early 10-point deficit.

“Even though it’s my third time here I was nervous and got a little psycho, I guess,” said Bird, a 1,000-point career scorer. “But once we put the fullcourt defense on, that’s what we like to do. We like to get up in our man’s face, and doing that kind of calmed us down and got us back into the game.”

No. 5 Limestone, which had won 14 of its last 15 games, ends its season with a 15-5 record.

The Eagles scored 14 straight points to take an 18-8 lead in the opening minute of the second quarter. But Lee then extended its defense, and that forced nine Limestone turnovers as the Pandas took a 32-28 halftime lead.

Bird scored 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting in the period.

“We’re not a big team, so we really have to pick up the tempo and go fullcourt,” said Lee senior guard Sydney Surratt. “We can’t really sit there and play halfcourt because we don’t have that huge big man that can always get a bucket, so we have to play good ‘D’ and go fullcourt and get into a faster-paced game.”

Surratt came up big offensively for Lee in the third quarter, hitting two 3-pointers late in the period that helped the Pandas build an 11-point lead.

“He’s been an excellent shooter all year long,” said Lee coach Randy Harris, “sometimes to the point where he doesn’t shoot enough and we’ve got to beg him to shoot.”

A 3-pointer by Limestone’s Matt Enman cut the gap to 43-35 by the end of the period, but Surratt fed Bird for a layup and Bird then made two free throws as Limestone center Danny Hayes fouled out with 7:14 left to give Lee a 47-35 cushion. The Eagles got no closer than nine the rest of the way.

“That’s a good team,” said Limestone coach Ryan Deprey. “We did what we could for a while, but when we lose Hayes, that’s a big offensive and defensive presence we don’t have.”

Junior forward Devan Parker added 13 points and eight rebounds for Lee, while senior guard Peter Pickering had nine rebounds and six assists.

Lee also helped its cause at the free-throw line, making 21 of 24 attempts compared with 8 of 9 for Limestone.

Enman led the Eagles offensively with 13 points and four steals, while sophomore point guard Chris Kirchner scored 12 points. Hayes was limited to six points and nine rebounds before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.

PANDAS 67, EAGLES 49

Limestone-MSSM (15-5) Lee Academy (13-7)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Kirchner 5 22 2 2 12 Coulombe 0 0

Clayton 3 6 0 0 6 Connick 1 2 4

Enman 5 9 2 2 13 Guido 0 2 0

Parent 0 1 0 0 0 Surratt 4 8 15

King 0 1 0 1 0 Parker 5 8 3 13

Foster 0 0 2 2 2 Pickering 2 10 3 4 7

Beaulieu 1 3 2 2 4 MacDnld 0 3 0

Hopkins 0 0 0 0 0 Bird 8 19 26

Giangiodno 3 7 0 0 6 Doty 0 0 2

Rossignol 0 0 0 0 0 Beers 0 0 0

Hayes 3 11 0 0 6

Totals 20 60 8 9 49 Totals 20 55 21 24 67

Limestone-MSSM 16 28 35 45

Lee Academy 8 32 43 67

3-pt. goals – Limestone-Maine School of Science and Mathematics (1-13): Enman 1-4, King 0-1, Clayton 0-2, Kirchner 0-6; Lee Academy (6-16): Bird 3-5, Surratt 3-5, Coulombe 0-1, Guido 0-1, Parker 0-1, Pickering 0-3