Black Bears tipTigers; Lynx cruise past Vikes Maranacook, MA in semis

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BANGOR – It was nearly d?j? vu for the Maranacook boys basketball team.

Last winter, the Black Bears of Readfield were sent into hibernation with a quarterfinal loss to Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield.

This time, it was Rockland that put a scare into top-seeded and undefeated Maranacook, but the Black Bears hit clutch free throws down the stretch, holding off the gritty, eighth-seeded Tigers 59-57 in the second of two Class B quarterfinals at the Bangor Auditorium Saturday morning.

“As far as I’m concerned, that was way too scary,” said coach Rob Schmidt, whose 19-0 Bears will take on fifth-ranked Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, a 59-43 winner over No. 4 Caribou in the first game, in a 3:35 p.m. semifinal Wednesday.

Rockland, which was bolstered by the torrid 3-point shooting of junior guard Teel Ilvonen, wrapped up its campaign at 13-7.

After trailing 38-32 at intermission, Matt Breen’s club responded with a 17-10 third-quarter rally which gave Rockland a 49-48 edge heading into the fourth.

That’s when the Black Bears’ defense took over, and the Tigers struggled to find an offensive spark after starters Chris Nolan and Dylan Meklin were forced to the bench with four fouls in the first minute of the period.

Thanks to Rockland’s foul trouble, Maranacook had a decisive edge at the foul line, outscoring Rockland 21-10 from the line and hitting nine of 11 foul shots in the fourth quarter.

“I guess a lot of times games come down to that. You just hope you’re on the end where the percentage is up high,” said Schmidt. “We definitely hit some big ones at the end.”

Good thing they did, since the usually sound-shooting Black Bears struggled to find their touch, shooting only 27 percent (16-58) from the field.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well [today] at all. That’s not the way we play as far as our offense goes,” said Schmidt. “They did a good job of slowing us down in transition.”

Rockland also did a solid job on Bears sharpshooter Ryan Martin in the second half, holding the flashy guard to one field goal and seven points.

“We knew they were going to play us tough. We were ready for them,” said Martin, who finished with a game-high 25 points.

“We didn’t shoot particularly well this game. Defensive stops gave us the win,” added Martin.

The Tigers had plenty of chances in the final minute. Ilvonen (20 points, 6-of-6 from behind the arc) sank another perimeter jumper to bring Rockland to within 55-54 with 30 seconds left.

After Maranacook’s Will Bardaglio sank two free throws with 22 seconds to play, Anderson Murphy’s 3-point attempt was off the mark and Conrad Gilman hit a pair of foul shots to ice it for the Bears.

Chris Nolan’s desperation 3-pointer with a couple seconds to go trimmed the lead back to two, but the clock expired.

Tyler Patterson contributed 15 points and six rebounds and Meklin 13 points for Rockland.

In the first game, Mattanawcook Academy (15-4) outscored Caribou 20-6 in a 10-minute span in the first half, including 9-2 in the second quarter, to turn a tie game just past the halfway mark of the first quarter into a 29-15 halftime lead.

Tough interior defensive play by Tyler White suffocated Caribou’s tough shooters Kyle Corrigan and Jarryd Rossignol, in particular Corrigan, who was held to 12 points on 5-16 shooting.

“[White’s] role today was to be the one-man zone, to help on Corrigan’s dribble penetration, make him take a tough shot,” said Lynx coach Rick Sinclair, whose club stuck with a man-to- man defense throughout the contest.

White was also a force on the offensive glass. Eight of his 13 rebounds came on the offensive end while his 11 points contributed to a balanced scoring effort by MA, which had four players in double figures.

Derek Libbey led the way with a game-high 17 points, while Brady Vose netted 16, including a 5-for-5 effort at the line, and Jacob Smith had 11.

“That’s been the key. Brady and Derek have the ability to score in the 30s or high 20s on a night, but we’re a lot better team when we’re spreading it around,” said Sinclair.

The Lynx coasted in the second half, leading by as many as 17 while Caribou drew no closer than nine.

Rossignol finished with 11 points for the Vikes while Ben Rosser posted nine points while hauling down 10 rebounds.

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LYNX 59, VIKINGS 43

Mattanawcook (16-4) Caribou (17-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cahill 0 0 0 0 0 Corrigan 5 16 0 2 12

Laird 0 0 0 0 0 Robertsn 0 0

Campbell 1 2 0 0 2 Sager 0 0 0

Libbey 7 15 2 7 17 Schulster 0 0

Vose 4 9 5 5 16 Rosser 3 12 3 9

Smith 4 6 2 4 11 Rossignol 5 11 1 1 11

White 4 13 3 6 11 Belanger 0 0

Hanington 0 0 0 0 0 Nadeau 0 0 0

McKinnon 0 1 0 0 0 Anderson 1 3

Langevin 1 4 0 0 2 Brown 1 2 2

Hanscom 0 0 0 0 0 St. Peter 3 6

Totals 21 50 12 22 59 Totals 18 51 43

Mattanawcook 20 29 46 59

Caribou 13 15 32 43

3-pt. goals – Mattanawcook (5-9): Vose 3-4, Libbey 1-3, Smith 1-1, Campbell 0-1; Caribou (2-14): Corrigan 2-9, Rossignol 0-2, Anderson 0-2, Rosser 0-1

BLACK BEARS 59, TIGERS 57

Rockland (13-7) Maranacook (19-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Nolan 1 3 2 2 5 Poulin 1 11 7

Weiss 0 0 0 0 0 Martin 7 18 25

Dresser 0 2 2 3 2 Bardaglio 2 11 3 4 8

Murphy 0 1 0 0 0 LaChance 1 2

Searle 1 1 0 0 2 Norwood 1 3 2

Baudanza 0 1 0 0 0 HoddWlls 0 0

Meklin 5 10 3 4 13 Gerrity 2 6 8

Ilvonen 6 8 2 2 20 Gilman 2 7 7

Patterson 7 11 1 4 15

Totals 20 37 10 15 57 Totals 16 58 21 27 59

Rockland 17 32 49 57

Maranacook 22 38 48 59

3-pt. goals – Rockland (7-12): Ilvonen 6-6, Nolan 1-2, Dresser 0-1, Baudanza 0-1, Meklin 0-1, Murphy 0-1; Maranacook (6-19): Martin 3-7, Gerrity 2-2, Bardaglio 1-7, Poulin 0-3