Central Aroostook suffers upset loss
Sports Editor
Panthers 55
Tigers 69
BANGOR — Dreams of returning to the state championship were dashed Saturday for the Central Aroostook boys basketball team as the No. 2 Panthers were knocked out of the tournament by No. 7 Shead in the quarterfinals.
No. 7 Shead (15-4) used a remarkable second-half surge to rally past No. 2 Central Aroostook (16-3) 69-55 in a game that did not finish until nearly 11 p.m. Shead advances to the semifinals where it will take on No. 3 Fort Fairfield Wednesday (today) at 2:05 p.m.
“We just didn’t execute offensively,” CAHS coach Tim Brewer said. “We didn’t do what we wanted to do. We didn’t run our offense. We were completely out of synch and couldn’t get things turned around.”
Caleb Kelly poured in 23 points for the Panthers, while Logan McLaughlin came within one three-pointer of tying the Class D tournament record for three-pointers as he connected on six treys for 18 points. Josh Madden of Calvary Chapel set the tourney record for three-pointers with seven in 2004.
Tyler Mitchell led Shead with 20 points, while Carlos Smith and Dave Mederios each had 14.
In the fourth quarter, the Panthers drifted away from their post game, in favor of the deep ball and it proved costly. Central Aroostook launched 17 three-pointers in the fourth quarter Saturday, connecting on just four of those shots.
“We never even looked to get the ball inside,” coach Brewer said. “And the inside guys were drifting outside on us anyway. I don’t know why. We totally got away from getting the ball down low and that was the difference in the game.”
Both Shead and Central Aroostook were firing on all cylinders to start the game Saturday as the Panthers led 19-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers used numerous substitutions throughout the first quarter, keeping the team fresh and allowing CAHS to press defensively.
The Panther lead grew to 23-13 in the first minute of the second quarter as Kelly drilled a pair of short-range jump shots. Shead battled its way back to knot the game at 29-29 at halftime, due largely to its success from the foul line. The Tigers were a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in the second quarter.
Shead took its first lead with 6:05 remaining in the third period and the Panthers never led again.
The Tigers made 20 of 29 free throws (69 percent), while the Panthers made seven of 15 foul shots (47 percent).
