ELLSWORTH – Few among the region’s schoolboy basketball braintrust placed Mount Desert Island high on the list of contenders for a top finish in Eastern Maine Class B this season.

A new coach and a relative lack of height added up to a building year of sorts, so went the logic.

But the Trojans’ status at the Christmas break suggests something else, with Saturday night’s 51-42 victory over Hancock County rival Ellsworth at a packed Katsiaficas Gymnasium leaving MDI with a 4-1 record.

Defense has been at the forefront of the strong start. Coach Justin Norwood’s club is allowing just 40.2 points per game, and against Ellsworth the Trojans forced 26 turnovers – 10 in the third quarter when MDI outscored the Eagles 19-7 to take control.

“Coach is always harping about defense, defense, defense and patience on offense, and once we cracked down and did that we were all right,” said MDI senior point guard Ben Young, who shook off first-half foul trouble to score a team-high 12 points. “I think they scored four points in the third quarter and then got a 3-pointer right at the end, and to hold a team like Ellsworth to four points in a quarter is a very good job.”

Norwood, an MDI alumnus, has brought that defensive mind-set back to his alma mater from Hampden Academy, where he served as an assistant under Russ Bartlett while the Broncos were winning the 2005 Class A state championship and back-to-back Eastern Maine titles in 2005 and 2006.

“We always talk about being tougher, and that’s what we showed tonight,” said Norwood. “We’ve got nine or 10 guys that can go out and really ball-pressure people. I always talk with the guys that when somebody’s got the ball on the perimeter, we want him to feel like he can’t dribble, pass, shoot, anything.”

Ellsworth’s defense kept MDI on the perimeter throughout the first half, and the Trojans shot just 7 of 25 from the field as the 1-4 Eagles maintained a 22-20 lead at intermission behind six points each from freshman forward Andrew Austin, junior guard Patrick Kelley and sophomore guard Ryan Petros.

Junior guard Jasper Cousins came off the bench to keep MDI that close, with his presence on defense also enabling him to score eight of the Trojans’ 10 second-quarter points.

That defensive intensity soon grew contagious, as MDI allowed fewer shots (seven) than turnovers it forced during the third quarter until Kelley hit a running 40-footer at the buzzer to rally Ellsworth within 39-29.

MDI’s offense also grew more successful, in part because of quick-strike baskets off turnovers but also from searching out more scoring attempts nearer the basket. That led the Trojans to the free-throw line, where they made 8 of 9 tries in the third period and 14 of 22 in the second half.

That compared to just 1 of 6 by Ellsworth for the game.

“There were times in the first half when we were rushing our shots and it showed,” said Young, whose 3-pointer 27 seconds into the third quarter gave MDI the lead for good at 23-22. “We were down by two at halftime and most of our shots weren’t falling, but patience and waiting for the open shot helped us a lot in the second half.”

Ellsworth got within 43-37 midway through the fourth quarter when Kelley hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game and senior forward Sam Coombs made a free throw after grabbing and offensive rebound.

But MDI stretched its lead back do double digits as junior guard Nolan Hall made three free throws and Cousins added one, and Ellsworth got no closer than eight points over the final three minutes.

Cousins finished with 11 points and six steals, while senior guard Jon Hall added 10 points, eight in the third quarter. Junior guard Terrence Jones had four steals.

Kelley led Ellsworth with 12 points. Senior forward James Doe added nine points and four assists.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

TROJANS 51, EAGLES 42

MDI (4-1) Ellsworth (1-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Strout 1 4 0 0 2 Doe 4 8 9

N. Hall 0 3 3 4 3 Folmer 0 2 0

Dunn 0 0 3 4 3 Emeigh 0 0 0 0

J. Hall 3 5 4 5 10 Austin 3 5 6

Jones 1 2 0 0 2 Kelley 4 9 12

Cousins 3 7 5 6 11 Dugas 0 1 0

Mitchell 2 8 1 2 5 Tracy 1 3 2

Ferm 1 1 1 2 3 Petros 4 9 0 8

Young 4 8 2 5 12 Coombs 2 4 5

Haas 0 0 0 0

Totals 15 38 19 28 51 Totals 18 41 42

MDI 10 20 39 51

Ellsworth 12 22 29 42

3-pt. goals – MDI (2-11): Young 2-4, Strout 0-1, Cousins 0-1, J. Hall 0-1, N. Hall 0-2, Mitchell 0-2; Ellsworth (5-11): Kelley 4-6, Doe 1-1, Folmer 0-1, Austin 0-1, Dugas 0-1, Tracy 0-1

JV: Ellsworth 52-50

Attendance: 900 (est.)