By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BANGOR — Saturday morning was a roller-coaster ride for the Central Aroostook Panthers, but that was nothing new to this team based on what had occurred all season long.
CA started out by winning nine of its first 10 games, but then hit a rough patch by losing four in a row down the stretch before defeating Katahdin in the regular season finale.
Pioneer Times photograph/Joseph Cyr
RUNNERS-UP — Josh Hudson holds the Eastern Maine runner-up championship plaque to the Hodgdon crowd, along with teammates, from left, Nick Lunn, Jimmy Buzzell and T.J. Farrar.
The Panthers also found themselves trailing No. 14 Schenck by 13 points in the preliminary playoff game Feb. 13, but rallied to win in overtime to get into the tournament.
Another overtime victory followed in the semis (vs. Washburn) before the team needed extra time once again in the championship game to get past the No. 5 Hodgdon Hawks, 58-55.
CA senior forward Joe Stiles went 3 of 4 from the foul line in the final 33 seconds of overtime to break a tie and give his team the EM title win.
“I’ve been here before, let’s just say that,” Stiles said. “I just wanted to come out and win this game for us. That’s all I was thinking about when I went to the line.”
Another senior, center Steven Decker, scored his team’s previous seven points beginning with 41 seconds to play in regulation. His foul shot with 4.8 seconds to play in the fourth forced the extra session.
“Joe and I have won state championships and we knew what it took,” Decker said. “That’s the advantage we had, plus we have a great coach who gave us a great game plan and we executed.”
Chris Hudson of the Hawks came out blazing. He scored 19 first-half points, including six field goals on perimeter shots — three of them three-pointers. His Hodgdon squad led by six at intermission.
The Panthers scored the first 11 points of the third quarter, with Decker tallying seven and Chandler Brewer the other four. The Hawks recovered, with Hudson’s three-pointer beating the third-quarter buzzer and drawing his team within three (41-38).
The fourth quarter saw the lead change hands four times and include four ties. Josh Hudson scored on a back-door cut to put Hodgdon up 50-48 with a minute to play, but Decker twice went one of two from the line to force OT.
Decker and the Hawks’ Tyler Sherman exchanged baskets to begin overtime, with another Decker free throw giving CA the lead with 1:31 left. Devon Logie of Hodgdon and Decker then scored on back-to-back possessions and a Logie free throw with 37 seconds left tied the score. Stiles then came through with his clutch foul shooting to give CA its EM second title in three years and fifth since 2005.
Sherman got off a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded that would have tied the score, but it was off the mark.
“The kids just gutted this one out,” said CA coach Tim Brewer. “We found ourselves in that Schenck game, fighting back and finding out we can play a lot harder than we normally play. That was the difference … that’s why we are here right now.
“Joe and Steve stepped up ten times from how they played during the regular season … I couldn’t be happier,” Brewer added.
Decker said being a leader has been a work in progress, but that he and Stiles took the responsibility seriously late in the year.
“It’s something we struggled with early in the season,” he said. “We weren’t really a team and didn’t have much for leadership.
“Coach told me I needed to be a leader and Joe saw that too and that’s when he got on the horse. It helped us big.”
Decker finished with team-highs in points (22), assists (six) and rebounds (six), while Stiles had 12 points, including three three-pointers. Chandler Brewer, a sophomore guard, had 15 points, including three threes. Zack McClung had a solid game with nine points, four rebounds and three steals.
Central Aroostook (17-5) next plays Forest Hills in the Class D state championship Saturday at 2:45 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.
For Hodgdon, they end the year with a 17-5 record. Chris Hudson had 12 rebounds to go along with his game-high 28 points. Josh Hudson had six points and eight rebounds and Matt Harmon had seven points and Sherman six, while Logie had eight boards. Nick Lunn, Logie and Josh Hudson had four assists apiece.
“We knew we had to come out and be focused,” Chris Hudson said, “and things just didn’t go our way.”
The Hawks held a 34-19 advantage in rebounding, while Hodgdon turned the ball over 15 times compared to 10 for CA. The Hawks were also just 10 of 18 from the foul line, including three of seven in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“We talked in the lockerroom about leaving it all on the floor today,” said Hodgdon coach Rob Smith. “I am so proud of these kids. When we started the year, I hoped we could get to this level, but we really didn’t know.
“I told the guys to take it all in and enjoy it. I know it’s hard for the seniors, because it’s their last game,” he added.
Hodgdon will lose Josh Hudson, Logie, Lunn and Harmon to graduation.
HODGDON (55)
Logie 1 1-4 3, Lunn 1 0-0 2, C. Hudson 9 6-11 28, J. Hudson 3 0-0 6, Quint 1 0-0 3, Sherman 2 2-2 6, Harmon 3 1-1 7. Totals: 20 10-18 55. 3-pointers — C. Hudson 4, Quint.
CAHS (58)
Murray, Pryor, Folsom, Stiles 3 3-4 12, Brewer 6 0-0 15, Decker 7 7-10 22, McClung 3 1-2 9, Garrison. Totals: 17 11-16 58. 3-pointers — Stiles 3, Brewer 3, McClung 2, Decker.
Hawks 10 20 8 12 5 — 55
Panthers 11 13 17 9 8 — 58
