November 08, 2024
Sports

Raiders, Erskine in semis Winslow ousts No. 2 ‘Jammers

BANGOR – The Winslow boys basketball team didn’t have a specific play set up for its possession with about 23 seconds left in Friday’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal.

So Josh LaPointe improvised.

“We were just trying to get a good shot,” senior guard said. “When you go to the basket and create, good things can happen.”

LaPointe’s driving basket with 22.6 seconds left in the game lifted the defending state champion Black Raiders to a 50-48 upset victory over No. 2 Camden Hills at the Bangor Auditorium.

Seventh-seeded Winslow (15-5) will play third-ranked Erskine Academy of South China in a 2:05 p.m. semifinal on Wednesday. Erskine rolled past No. 6 Maranacook of Readfield 84-46 Friday.

The Raiders started the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, but Camden Hills got that down to two points with 1:25 left. Nick Tedford scored to tie the game with 1:02 remaining, but LaPointe’s basket ended it.

The Windjammers (16-3) had a chance with 2.4 seconds left, but Jamey Davis’ cross-court pass to Tim Stammen, who was set up near the right block, went out of bounds with 0.9 seconds on the clock.

LaPointe had 11 points, including two 3-pointers during Winslow’s 12-0 run in the second quarter. The Raiders took advantage of two Camden Hills turnovers in that stretch.

“That run was huge,” he said. “They had a lead and we knew we had to fight back.”

Several Windjammers got into foul trouble, and the Raiders responded from the free-throw line with a 13-for-14 effort.

Winslow’s Eric Lopez added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Adam Haskell had eight points and nine boards.

Stammen had 11 points for Camden Hills and Davis scored 10.

The Windjammers had beaten Winslow twice in the regular season. The Raiders cut way down on turnovers this time, LaPointe said. Camden Hills forced 14 and committed just seven.

In Friday’s first game, Erskine (16-3) used its 2-2-1 fullcourt press to force 31 Maranacook turnovers.

“When we played them before this year, we did the same press but we attacked them,” said Erskine guard Matt Donar. “This time we did the same press, but we hung back and let them attack us and let them make the decisions. We took the middle away, and it seemed to work out for us.”

Erskine shot 62 percent (32 of 52) from the field, the majority coming in transition or by working the ball to 6-foot-4 junior Josh Jones, who totaled 22 points and seven rebounds.

Donar scored 20 points, and teamed with Jones at the front of the Erskine press to disrupt the smaller Maranacook guards.

“Josh Jones and Matt Donar are so athletic and aggressive up top that it gave us a lot of easy points,” said Erskine coach Tim Bonsant.

The chief beneficiary of that initial pressure was 6-3 junior guard Darrell Haskell, who scored 18 points – including four 3-pointers – and dished out eight assists, mostly for layups after Maranacook turnovers.

“It was a blast,” said Haskell. “After we got that lead, we weren’t going to give it up. It was as much fun as we’ve ever had.”

This game was tied at 11-11 when Maranacook’s Kaleb Violette (13 points, nine rebounds) converted a three-point play with 2:53 left in the first quarter.

But Haskell and Donar each hit 3-pointers as Erskine closed out the period with a 12-3 run good for a 23-14 lead, and that run grew to 27-5 as the Eagles forced 11 second-quarter turnovers.

By intermission, Erskine’s lead was 40-26, and for Maranacook (14-6) it only got worse.

BLACK RAIDERS 50, WINDJAMMERS 48

Winslow (15-5) Camden Hills (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

LaPointe 4 8 0 0 11 Davis 4 16 10

Sirois 1 4 4 4 6 Moro 0 0 0

Helberg 2 3 2 2 6 Draper 0 1 0

Sandoval 0 0 0 0 0 Horn 2 5 5

Carrier 1 2 2 2 4 Stammen 4 11 11

Lopez 5 12 3 3 13 Fitzgerald 3 9

Poulin 1 1 0 0 2 Scamfer 1 2 3

Haskell 3 6 2 3 8 Tedford 5 8 10

Puls 0 0 0 0

Dennen 0 1 0 0

Totals 17 36 13 14 50 19 51 48

Winslow 15 31 43 50

Camden Hills 15 28 39 48

3-pt. goals ? Winslow (3-7): LaPointe 3-4, Helberg 0-1, Lopez 0-2; Camden Hills (6-20): Fitzgerald 3-5, Scamfer 1-2, Horn 1-3, Stammen 1-4, Tedford 0-1, Davis 0-5

EAGLES 84, BLACK BEARS 46

Maranacook (14-6) Erskine Acad. (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Jarius 0 1 0 0 0 Peterson 0 1

Violette 6 10 1 3 13 Dow 0 0 0

Calligan 2 12 2 2 7 Childs 4 7 8

Palmer 0 0 0 0 0 Lyford 0 2 0

Feldman 1 4 0 0 2 Bagdoyon 0 0

St. John 2 9 0 0 5 D. Haskell 6 12 2 2 18

Gerrity 3 6 0 0 6 Heath 0 0 0

Bates 1 2 1 3 3 Jones 8 9 22

Gilman 3 8 2 2 10 Dennison 0 0

Collins 0 1 0 0 0 Leibowitz 5 11

Spalding 0 2 0 0 0 K. Haskell 1 2

Kendall 0 0 2 2

Donar 8 13 3 20

Fleming 0 1 0 0

Totals 18 55 6 10 46 32 52 15 22 84

Maranacook 14 24 28 46

Erskine 23 40 59 84

3-pt. goals ? Maranacook (4-18): Gilman 2-7, Calligan 1-5, St. John 1-5, Feldman 0-1; Erskine (5-17): D. Haskell 4-9, Donar 1-4, Childs 0-1, Lyford 0-1, Bagdoyon 0-1, Flemi


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