ORONO – The Old Town High School Coyotes were watching a game they seemingly had in control slip away Saturday night – until a new varsity player stepped up to get the team’s new era in Class B boys basketball off to a victorious start.

Sophomore guard Luke Bartlett made two 3-point goals on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth quarter to erase a six-point deficit, and that propelled Old Town to a season-opening 54-49 win over Orono.

Bartlett, who played on the Coyotes’ junior varsity as a freshman, had taken just one earlier shot in his varsity debut.

But Old Town, which led by as many as nine points in the first half but had watched Orono use an 8-2 run to grab a 42-36 lead in the opening moment of the fourth quarter, needed a lift and got it from a somewhat unanticipated source.

On two straight possessions, backcourt mate Mamadou Ba – himself just returning to action after off-season knee surgery – made a slight penetration into the lane from the left of the free-throw circle, then passed the ball back out to Bartlett at the right of the circle.

Both times Bartlett stepped confidently into his 3-point attempts, and both times he was rewarded. Suddenly the game was tied, and the Coyotes had regained the momentum.

“They came when we needed them, but it wasn’t really me that created the 3-point opportunities, it was the team,” said Bartlett. “They passed the ball to me when I was open because they were creating the opportunities for me.”

Bartlett’s two baskets triggered an 11-0 Old Town run that gave the Coyotes a 47-42 lead, as 6-foot-5 center Ethan Shanley added a jumper and two free throws around a free throw by teammate Colin Ziegenbein.

Two free throws each by Lee Hecker and Seth Dwyer drew Orono to 47-46, but the Red Riots went without a field goal for a nearly seven-minute stretch of the fourth and were unable to regain the lead.

“[Bartlett] really stepped up and knocked down a couple of 3s, and I think that changed the momentum,” said Orono coach Ben Goodwin. “We did a great job coming back from their [first-half] lead and built a little lead of our own, but we just didn’t finish it off.”

Shanley scored off an inbounding pass from the baseline by Bartlett to stretch Old Town’s lead to three with 1:03 to play, and after Dwyer missed a runner, Bartlett was fouled and made two free throws to give the Coyotes a 51-46 cushion with 53 seconds left.

This game was noteworthy on at least two fronts, first that it was Old Town’s debut in Class B after dropping down from its perennial status in Class A due to a shrinking student enrollment.

This also marked the first game between these two neighboring schools after a hiatus of several years since Orono became a Class C program.

Shanley led Old Town with 19 points and six rebounds, including 12 points after intermission and a 7-of-7 effort from the free-throw line. Bartlett added 10 points, eight in the fourth quarter.

Orono got a huge game from Dwyer, a senior guard who scored 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The 6-foot tri-captain scored 16 points in the first half.

Ernie Clark may be reached at eclark@bangordailynews.net or 990-8045.

COYOTES 54, RED RIOTS 49

Old Town (1-0) Orono (0-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bartlett 3 3 2 3 10 Coleman 0 1 0

Boucher 1 3 2 2 5 Riemrsma 3 10 2 2 9

Paradis 0 1 0 2 0 Spencer 0 3 2

Hussey 0 1 1 2 1 Bates 1 4 4

Ba 0 8 3 6 3 Nason 2 5 0 4

Shorey 1 3 3 4 5 Dwyer 7 16 25

Merry 1 2 0 0 2 Levsseur 1 2

Ziegenbein 3 6 1 2 7 Hecker 1 4 5

Wilkens 1 2 0 0 2 Leek 0 0 0

Shanley 6 16 7 7 19

Totals 16 45 19 28 54 Totals 15 46 15 23 49

Old Town 15 30 36 54

Orono 9 28 38 49

3-pt. goals – Old Town (3-8): Bartlett 2-2, Boucher 1-2, Shorey 0-1, Shanley 0-1, Ba 0-2; Orono (4-12): Dwyer 3-6, Riemersma 1-4, Coleman 0-1, Levasseur 0-1

JV: Orono 51-42

Attendance: 375 (est.)