Eagles win by two in overtime
BANGOR, Maine — The Ellsworth High School Eagles needed more than one buzzer-beater to edge upset-minded Caribou in their Class B North semifinal at the Cross Insurance Center last Wednesday night.
They needed two, and that’s what gave them a 42-40 triumph.
Junior guard Bryce Harmon’s desperation 40-foot, 3-pointer forced overtime and senior center Bruce St. Peter’s contested 10-foot jumper as time expired in the extra session decided it.
Mr. Maine Basketball semifinalist Donovan Savage’s two free throws with 3.8 seconds left in regulation gave the upstart Vikings a 40-37 lead.
But Nick Bagley made the inbounds pass to Harmon who raced up the floor and banked in his 3-pointer from the left side just after he crossed center court.
“We figured Savage would make his free throws, so I told Bagley that I thought I would have time to get a shot off,” said Harmon. “I was hoping it would go in. It felt good coming out of my hands off the dribble.”
“Things like that happen,” said Savage. “All you can do is pat him on the back and say ‘Good shot.’”
Both teams had chances in overtime but couldn’t convert.
Cooper Henderson inbounded the ball to St. Peter.The Vikings had the ball with less than a minute remaining but St. Peter stole a pass, and the Eagles held the ball until calling a timeout with 7.2 seconds left.
St. Peter explained that he was supposed to pass the ball to Kyle Golding, who was driving the lane.
“But that option wasn’t open. I knew there wasn’t much time and I couldn’t make a play. So I took it to the hole,” said St. Peter. “It worked out. It felt awesome when I shot it.”
“We played good defense, but Bruce is a good player and he can make shots like that,” said Savage.
Bagley finished with a game-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers. St. Peter had 10 points and seven rebounds along with a blocked shot and his all-important steal. Harmon and Golding had eight points each.
The dynamic Savage finished with a game-high 18 points. He also dished out four assists. Nick Allen and Ricky Sheldon had six points each. Sheldon grabbed four rebounds as did Gabe Massey.
Caribou dictated the tempo, parlaying a deliberate offense and waiting for the good shot against up-tempo Eagles.
Caribou scored the game’s first six points as Savage hit a 12-foot jumper from the left and a foul line jumper before Sheldon fed Massey for an easy bucket underneath.
Ellsworth missed its first five shots but Bagley’s driving layup gave them their first points with 2:50 left in the first quarter.
Ellsworth scored the next eight points to take a 10-6 lead.
The game see-sawed back and forth until Bagley’s consecutive three-pointers and Harmon’s driving layup made it 27-19 late in the third quarter.
But Caribou rallied to within 29-28 behind Sheldon’s four points and Savage’s three-pointer.
Massey’s driving layup gave Caribou a 36-34 lead with 2:10 left but a St. Peter free throw and two by Golding made it 37-36 with 1:18 left.
Savage fed Sheldon for a four-foot jumper with 17.1 seconds left and when Ellsworth missed a shot, Savage was fouled and made his free throws with 3.8 seconds left.
Caribou finished 12-9, while Ellsworth went on to defeat Orono in the finals on Saturday and will compete for a state championship this Friday night.
Ellsworth 42, Caribou 40 (OT)
No. 6 Caribou (12-9)
Savage 5-15 7-8 18, Rossignol 2-5 0-0 4, Allen 3-3 0-0 6, Massey 2-5 0-0 4, Sheldon 3-5 0-0 6, Findlen 1-1 0-0 2, Bondeson 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 16-35 7-8 40
No. 2 Ellsworth (16-4) 42
Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Harmon 3-7 0-0 8, Bagley 5-13 0-0 14, St. Peter 4-10 2-4 10, Henderson 1-6 0-0 2, Golding 1-3 6-6 8, Braley 0-1 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Libby 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 14-42 8-10 42
3-pt. goals: Caribou 1-4: Savage 1-3, Rossignol 0-1; Ellsworth 6-13: Bagley 4-7, Harmon 2-3, Henderson 0-1, Harris 0-1, Braley 0-1
Caribou 6 16 21 40 40
Ellsworth 5 17 27 40 42
