BANGOR, Maine – It was a tale of two halves for the Central Aroostook boys’ basketball team as they earned a 64-58 win over Calvary Chapel in Monday’s Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal round.
Down ten with four minutes left in the first half, the two-time defending state champs appeared to be on their way out of the Eastern Maine tournament in the first round. The team seemed sluggish on defense, not getting in position for rebounds and out of touch on offense, not getting inside shots and committing seven turnovers in the half, but the Panthers first three possessions of the second half proved they weren’t out of the game.
“We turned up our defensive intensity,” said Central Aroostook head coach Tim Brewer. “We started to force some turnovers. Quite a few of their possessions to start the third were turnovers. We had a few ourselves but I think we just played better defense and that was the difference in the game.”
Cameron York opened the half with a three-pointer and Manny Martinez stole the ball at mid court to give the Panthers a second quick possession. A showy move by Central Aroostook center Silas Kelly got the Panther crowd back into the game. The 6-7 senior grabbed an offensive board on the left side, moved to the right with his back to the hoop and scooped the shot off the backboard and in to pull the Panthers within four three minutes into the second half.
A minute later Kelly converted a layup off a Calvary Chapel turnover and York grabbed one of his three steals on the inbounds play and drained a three to give the Panthers their first lead since early in the first quarter at 37-36.
“People just started making shots,” York said. “Manny hit some big shots, Tim hit some big shots … It just started clicking for us.”
Central Aroostook took a slim 44-42 lead into the fourth quarter and extended it to 47-44 as senior guard Sam Clockedile hit a quick layup and drew a foul, completing a three-point play for the Panther advantage.
The lead would change six times in the final minutes until a 10-foot jumper by York from the left side put the Panthers up 59-58 with 50 seconds left and gave the team the lead for good.
Kelly would add a layup and Clockedile and Carlson added free throws for the final margin.
The opening minutes of the game saw Calvary Chapel take a lead behind the post play of 6-7 center Ian Seekins and 6-3 forward Alexander Merrill. The pair dominated the boards, giving the Sabers a 19-14 rebounding advantage in the first half including several offensive boards which fell for second-chance shots, but a defensive switch for the Panthers kept the two in check in the second half.
“I had Silas guarding [Merrill] and I switched him over to [Seekins] and had [Tim] guarding [Merrill],” Brewer said. “Basically it was our halfcourt trap that made the difference.”
Calvary Chapel ends their season at 15-5. The team was led by Merrill with 23 points and 13 rebounds and Luke Thomas with 13 points and seven boards. Seekins, who fouled out late in the contest, ended with seven points and 13 rebounds.
For the still undefeated Panthers, all five starting players scored in double figures to help the team advance. Carlson led the way with 16 points followed by Clockedile with 15, Martinez with 12, Kelly with 11 and York with 10. The team spread things out defensively as well with Kelly pulling down seven boards followed by Clockedile with six and Carlson with five boards and four steals.
Thursday’s semifinal game is a battle of undefeated teams with Central Aroostook taking on Deer Isle-Stonington at 7:05 p.m. and the team knows they’ll have to be on top of their game to get back to this year’s Eastern Maine final.
“We have to come out with more intensity, we have to execute better and we have to actually run our offense,” Brewer said. “We had a lot of standing both on the offensive and defensive ends, but overall, that’s the sign of a good team. When you don’t play your best and you’re able to walk away with a win.”