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BANGOR – Leading by a point entering the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s Class B boys basketball game against John Bapst, Mount Desert Island made just one field goal and shot 50 percent from the free-throw line the rest of the way – including overtime.
It’s a statistical recipe for defeat in most games, but when things are going your way, it’s just enough for victory.
MDI forced 28 turnovers and held John Bapst scoreless for the final 2 minutes, 47 seconds of overtime as the Trojans earned a hard-fought 43-38 victory over the Crusaders at the Bangor Auditorium.
“We hadn’t practiced in three days, so we were expecting to play sloppy,” said MDI senior guard Ben Young. “But we feel like if we can play physical, we can work it out. It was a physical game but a good win in a hostile environment.”
It also was MDI’s second win of the season over John Bapst and eighth consecutive victory since the 10-1 Trojans’ lone loss, a 59-56 defeat against Caribou on Dec. 14.
“Defense is our main goal because getting turnovers will lead to our offense,” said Young, who scored a team-high 13 points. “If we can play good defense, we’re going to be in a lot of ballgames. We’re playing good right now. Hopefully, we’ll just get better.”
MDI has allowed just 39.8 points per game in its first season under coach Justin Norwood, and the Trojans were led defensively against John Bapst by junior guard Jasper Cousins. He had eight steals on the night and helped force three straight John Bapst turnovers on the perimeter at a crucial juncture of overtime.
“It was supposed to be man-to-man,” said Cousins, “but I was trying to steal the ball as much as I could, trying to catch them when they didn’t see me coming.”
Sophomore guard Ryan Carr, who scored a game-high 16 points, hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to give the Crusaders a 38-35 lead with 2:48 left in overtime.
But MDI’s defense intensified, forcing a succession of Bapst turnovers. And the Trojans, who made just 6 of 14 free throws in the fourth quarter, converted 6 of 10 attempts in the extra period.
Cousins and Young each went 1 of 2 from the line to pull MDI within 38-37 before senior center Conrad Strout (eight points, 13 rebounds) scored on a Cousins feed – the Trojans’ only basket after the third quarter – to give MDI a 39-38 lead with 59 seconds left.
Cousins followed with three more free throws and Strout made one to give the Trojans their largest lead of the game and preserve the win.
“They do such a good job defensively that they take you out of your stuff,” said John Bapst coach Jason Mills. “We talked about needing to be disciplined and to stay in our lanes and stay in our wing spots, but we didn’t do it. Their pressure took us out of it, and then we tried creating things that weren’t there.
“Defense wasn’t the problem for us, it was the offense.”
MDI was hindered by 23 turnovers of its own, as neither team could grasp control of this game until the very end.
MDI’s biggest lead of regulation was 8-5 on two straight baskets by Jake Merchant late in the first quarter.
Bapst’s biggest lead was five points on two occasions in the second quarter, the first time at 13-8 after three straight inside baskets by senior forward Charlie Merritt.
Young scored MDI’s final seven points of the half, including a 3-pointer with four seconds left, to give the Trojans a 17-16 lead at the break.
After a third quarter that featured six lead changes, MDI took a 35-32 lead before John Bapst center Ethan Cushman converted a three-point play with 1:43 left that ultimately forced overtime.
Cushman finished with seven points, eight blocked shots and seven rebounds before fouling out in overtime.
TROJANS 43, CRUSADERS 38 (OT)
MDI (10-1) John Bapst (8-5)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Strout 1 7 6 11 8 Gallant 0 6 0
N. Hall 1 3 0 0 2 Carr 5 9 16
Dunn 1 1 0 0 2 D. Smith 0 3 0
J. Hall 1 6 1 2 3 N. Smith 2 6
Jones 0 0 0 0 0 J.Gagnon 1 2
Merchant 3 7 0 0 6 Healey 0 2 1
Cousins 0 3 7 12 7 Merritt 3 7 6
Young 5 12 1 2 13 Cushman 3 7 7
Mitchell 0 0 0 0 0
Ferm 1 2 0 0 2
Totals 13 41 15 27 43 Totals 14 39 11 38
MDI 8 17 29 35 43
John Bapst 5 16 28 35 38
3-pt. goals – MDI (2-5): Young 2-4, N. Hall 0-1; John Bapst (4-8): Carr 4-5, D. Smith 0-1, Merritt 0-1, Cushman 0-1
JV: John Bapst 57-45
Attendance: 250 (est.)
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