ORONO – For the first half Tuesday night, Ellsworth’s strategy of keeping the ball out of the hands of Orono big man John Saucier worked. The 6-foot-11 senior rarely received the ball in a position to score and managed just four points in the first 16 minutes of the schoolboy basketball game.

But the Red Riots found success in the second half getting better guard penetration into the foul lane and fed the ball to Saucier for easy baskets. Saucier finished with 18 points and Orono improved to 3-1 with a 41-37 win over Ellsworth.

“I just told them to feed the big fellow and let him eat,” Orono coach Randy Lee said with a laugh. “We just have to be tough. We’re strong and big and we just have to make sure we play that way.”

Saucier ended up connecting on five of nine shots in the second half and showed a nice touch from the free throw line down the stretch where he was perfect on four shots with the game on the line.

“I thought they got it into me [in the first half], I just needed to get better position. Their zone was getting me real good. We penetrated much better in the second half and I was open,” Saucier said.

Saucier received help in the lane from Justin Perron. The 6-5 senior scored 13 points, including two free throws with five seconds left that sealed the win.

The Red Riots took a 25-23 lead into the fourth quarter and opened up a five-point lead at 31-26 on a pair of baskets by Saucier.

Aolysha Klose drove the lane for Orono, repeatedly finding Saucier and Lance Cowan, who ran the baseline, open for easy baskets. Cowan scored six of his seven points in the final quarter.

But the Red Riots couldn’t put the Eagles away. A freshman responded to the challenge for 1-3 Ellsworth. Andy Trace, who finished with a team-high 14 points, made three straight 3-pointers. Trace’s third 3-pointer gave the Eagles the lead at 35-34 with 3:53. But the Red Riots came back and took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Saucier with 2:13 showing on the clock.

Junior Joey Dewitt had 13 points for the Eagles and hit on three of six 3-pointers and Ellsworth was 9-of-24 from behind the arc.

“We’re a perimeter team,” Ellsworth coach Dan Clifford said. “We’re a 3-point shooting team. Especially with Saucier guarding the basket. We’re not going to get much going at him.”

The Eagles had their chance late in the fourth quarter. Twice, they had the ball with a chance to take the lead but errant passes on each occasion led to turnovers.

“We killed ourselves on turnovers in the fourth quarter,” Clifford said. “We had five in the fourth quarter. And you can’t have as many as we did in the fourth quarter and win the game.”

Neither team could get much done in the first half. Orono played at a deliberate pace, looking to get the ball inside without success.

For its part, Ellsworth extended its defense to the full-court. The combination made for sloppy play with both teams failing to capitalize on their scoring chances. Ellsworth led 16-11 at the half.

RED RIOTS 41, ELLSWORTH 37

Ellsworth (1-3) Orono (3-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Mayo 0 3 0 0 0 Dolley 0 1 0 0

Dewitt 4 14 2 2 13 Cowan 3 7 7

Berry 0 1 0 0 0 Klose 0 1 0

Tracy 5 15 0 0 14 Coleman 0 0 0

Jones 1 2 0 0 2 Miller 0 3 0

Wood 1 3 0 0 2 Perron 4 9 4 13

Sawyer 2 7 0 0 6 Socoby 1 2 3

Saucier 7 13 4 18

Totals 13 45 2 2 37 15 36 11 41

Ellsworth 8 16 23 37

Orono 4 11 25 41

3-pt. goals: Ellsworth (9-24): Tracy 4-10, Dewitt 3-6, Sawyer 2-5, Berry 0-1, Jones 0-1, Mayo 0-1; Orono (2-4): Perron 1-1, Socoby 1-2, Cowan 0-1

Attendance: 125 (est.)

Preliminary: Orono JVs 61-39