Staff Writer
After eliminating the Shead Tigers 61-49 on Friday morning, the Central Aroostook Panthers took another shot at the Eastern Maine Championship title Saturday. Friday’s game was well matched, as both teams vied for a spot in the final game. A basket by Tiger David Medeiros started off the scoring and the two teams kept pace with each other throughout the first half. Manny Martinez put in the Panthers’ first points with a 3-point shot followed by two free throws. Central Aroostook finally took the lead with 2:30 left in the first quarter, but a basket by Shead gave the Tigers a 16-14 advantage as the teams headed into the second quarter.
Both teams headed into foul trouble before halftime, but a 27-25 lead was all the Panthers needed to break away and Central Aroostook headed into the half 32-25 and kept that lead for the rest of the game.
“I think they got tired,” surmised coach Tim Brewer.
Panther Caleb Kelly led the game with 21 points, playing solid defense and quick offense in what may have been his best game of the season. “We really worked hard on our interior defense.For me, it’s about playing hard inside. When you play against bigger guys, you just have to try harder.” Kelly, who was a freshman when Central Aroostook took the title last year, felt more invested in the Championship game this time around. “This feels alot better than last year, because I didn’t play that much, but this year when you’re in almost every game, you feel a lot more involved.”
The agility that worked for Central Aroostook in the regular season and even in their semifinal game against Shead wasn’t enough to keep the Woodland Dragons from winning the 2009 Eastern Maine Class D boys championship title on Saturday morning in Bangor.
Woodland was the first to score, after Martinez and McLaughlin’s shots both came up empty. But a foul from Dragon Edward Flaherty sent Brendan York to the line and a quick basket by McLaughlin gave Central Aroostook their first lead. A technical foul by Aaron St. Pierre sent Martinez to the line but the Panther was unable to put in either of the free throws and Woodland closed the gap to one-point as the Panthers led 7-6 at the end of the first quarter. Martinez put away his first 3-pointer of the game early in the second quarter but Chad James kept the Dragons within two points. Another 3-point goal and layup from Martinez gave the Panthers a chance to pull ahead, but James responsed with a 3-pointer of his own as the Dragons kept breathing down the Panthers’ necks. The teams came back from the half with Central Aroostook still ahead 18-17, and if the Panthers could wear down the clock and their opponents, it seemed a second consecutive win might be theirs. But somewhere in the third quarter, Central Aroostook fell behind. McLaughlin put in a foul shot and basket for three points, but Woodland had managed to put in 15 points in the third quarter alone, leaving the Panthers behind 32-24 in the final eight minutes.
Once ahead, Woodland never looked back, though Central Aroostook fought hard to regain a lead. But the Panthers overly energetic defense sent them into foul trouble and all the Panthers could do was watch as the Dragons went 8-for-11 in the fourth alone . With minutes left in the game, Martinez fouled out and the Woodland Dragons took the 48-36 victory and championship title.
In the end, Central Aroostook’s defense wasn’t the problem.
“We couldn’t quite execute offensively,” said Brewer, “but I couldn’t be more proud of my team. As far as I’m concerned the kids exceeded expectations.”