BANGOR – You’d think when you’re an 11-5 team, you wouldn’t have to worry about snagging one of the nine spots which puts you into the postseason.

But that wasn’t the case with John Bapst. The Crusaders needed at least one win in their final two games to solidify a spot in the hardcourt derby known as the Eastern Maine Basketball Tournament.

Purple-and-white fans can breathe a little easier now as their Crusaders knocked off Mount Desert Island 62-53 at the Bangor Auditorium Tuesday night.

John Bapst improved to 12-5. The visiting Trojans are now 13-4.

It took John Bapst three quarters to solve MDI’s 2-3 zone defense, but once it did, the Crusaders scored half as many points in five minutes as they had in the previous 23.

The Crusaders’ 15-1 run that began with 1:02 left in the third quarter turned a 35-30 MDI lead into a 45-36 Bapst lead with 3:58 to play.

The plan going in for MDI was to stop Bapst big man Mike Mathien with a 2-3 matchup zone that left him double- or even triple-teamed when he stepped into the paint with the ball. Bapst wanted to put the clamps on MDI standout guard Ian Jones.

MDI accomplished its goal in the first half and Bapst accomplished its in the second.

“I think they did a real nice job being patient on offense, and I think they realized they couldn’t just throw it to the Mathien kid and were going to have to have other kids step up,” said MDI coach Wilton Jones, whose team missed the services of starting center Aaron Gray due to illness.

Brothers Tony and Scott Tremble were those other kids for Bapst. Tony hit three big shots from the perimeter to help open things up a bit inside and Scott began finding Mathien with regularity at the high post.

The result was nine points for Bapst’s 6-foot-7 junior center in the big run which forced MDI out of its 2-3. The Trojans switched to a 1-3-1 before finally going to a press.

“In the first half, we saw they were going to try and penetrate and dish against our zone and we adjusted in the second half,” said Scott Tremble. “Our coaches said they didn’t care if anybody else scored as long as Jones wasn’t a major contributor to their points.”

Bapst junked a 2-3 zone in favor of a diamond-and-one or box-and-one. The former worked better at containing Jones and helping clog the middle against would-be MDI penetrators.

Jones still led the Trojans with 17 points, but the increased defensive attention made it hard for him to find anyone else for easy baskets.

“When you concentrate on Jones, you’re going to give them something. They had big shots from some guys early on that they didn’t get later,” said John Bapst coach Bob Cimbollek.

As quickly as the game turned for Bapst, it threatened to turn back MDI’s way as the Trojans used their press, 3-point shots, and Bapst turnovers to cut the lead to 48-46 with 1:25 to play.

But the Trojans were running out of time and were forced to foul. And the Crusaders were almost automatic at the line – shooting 16-for-18 in the final quarter and 92 percent for the game.

Crusaders 62, Trojans 53

MDI (13-4) John Bapst (12-5)

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Norwood 5 14 0 0 13 Healey 2 5 2 2 6

Jones 7 11 1 1 17 Ford 1 8 2 2 4

Ingrisano 0 6 3 4 3 T.Tremble 4 5 3 4 11

Pratt 0 0 0 0 0 T.Mathien 2 6 2 2 6

Roix 0 1 0 0 0 S.Tremble 1 2 9 10 11

Wardman 0 0 0 0 0 M.Mathien 9 15 6 6 24

Hebron 3 4 0 0 8

Seeley 3 8 2 3 8

Walls 0 6 0 0 0

Applegate 2 6 0 0 4

Totals 20 56 6 8 53 Totals 19 41 24 26 62

Mount Desert Island 13 22 35 53

John Bapst 8 22 32 62

3-pt. goals: MDI (7-18): Norwood 3-9, Hebron 2-2, Jones 2-3, Ingrisano 0-1, Walls 0-3; John Bapst (0-2): Fort 0-1, T. Mathien 0-1

Attendance: 206

Preliminary: MDI JV 60, John Bapst 58 (OT)