Regional Champs!
Panther boys use tough defense to sail past J-B
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BANGOR — Saturday’s Eastern Maine championship victory by the Central Aroostook Panthers was a thorough dismantling of one of the top scoring teams in the state.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
SENIOR CALEB KELLY of Central Aroostook rises for a shot as Royals’ Matthew Alley (33) and Zachary Smith watch during Saturday’s regional championship game. CA prevailed, 49-26.
CA coach Tim Brewer decided to employ a triangle-and-two defense on Jonesport-Beals, with defenders covering two players man-to-man while the other three played a zone, and it confused the Royals into 12-for-46 shooting from the floor and a 49-26 victory by the Panthers.
“We’re a pretty good defensive team anyway, but I didn’t expect our defense to work that well,” Brewer said. “I thought if we could hold them in the 40s or 50s, we’d have a good chance of winning, but I didn’t think we’d hold them to 26.”
The defensive game plan worked tremendously. Coach Brewer called on junior guard Dan Brewer to defend Jonesport-Beals point guard Matthew Alley, while Panther junior forward Brenden York had the difficult assignment of guarding sophomore forward Garet Beal. The two did their jobs, as Alley made just 1 of 10 of his field goal attempts and Beal was 1 of 6 before fouling out with 3:08 left in the game.
Coach Brewer also praised senior Logan McLaughlin for his work in the middle of the defense.
“He did a masterful job and that’s what made the thing go,” Brewer said. “He knew where his man was, he dropped down to help when he needed to. It was a total team effort.”
Offensively, it was York, Caleb Kelly and Mike McClung doing most of the work for the Panthers. York had 14 points, including a 7-for-8 effort from the foul line, while Kelly and McClung each tallied 12 points while combining to go 11 for 20 from the field.
“We came in knowing we had to play big, execute offensively and we had to rebound, and that is exactly what we did,” Kelly said. “We didn’t hear anyone predicting that we were going to win, and that just drove us more.”
Central Aroostook knew it was in for a challenge, based upon the talented Royals’ starting front line made up of the 6-5 Beal, 6-5 Zachary Smith and 6-6 Justin Alley.
“We took them out of the game and just went out and played really strong,” said McClung, who at 6-5 represented CA’s top inside threat. “The biggest thing for me coming in was that I knew I had to box out and rebound. That was my role and I think I did a good job at it today.”
McClung also had seven rebounds and blocked four shots, while the 6-2 Kelly helped out inside by hauling in nine rebounds.
The Panthers jumped out in front 9-4 on a three-pointer by York off an inbounds play with 3:35 to play in the first quarter. The lead grew to 23-12 at halftime, with McClung and Kelly combining for 10 of the 12 second-quarter points.
Meanwhile, Jonesport-Beals was unable to mount a consistent attack. The team that averaged over 70 points per game during the season never had more than 10 points in any quarter and had just four second-half field goals before both teams emptied their benches for the final 2:21 of the game.
“That’s the first time this year we had seen that type of defense, and we just didn’t hit the wing areas, didn’t run a cutter toward the middle and we couldn’t hit anything from the outside,” said Jonesport-Beals coach Vincent MacLean. “We tried to set screens, but things didn’t develop. It just wasn’t our day and congratulations to Central Aroostook. It was a great game plan and they deserve it.”
Beal, who had averaged 27 points per game in the Royals’ first two tournament games, was held to two points and Alley, another double-figure scorer, also had just two. Justin Alley and Smith scored six points each to lead Jonesport-Beals.
“It was amazing. We haven’t played the best we could all year, but today we showed everyone that we were No. 1 and it was great,” McClung said.
The Panthers had some extra motivation this season coming off last year’s disappointing quarterfinal loss to Shead of Eastport.
“Last year, we were all really hurting … that game really got to us,” McClung said.
“We have more leadership, more inside play and more heart,” Kelly added.
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“We shot ourselves out of that game,” coach Brewer said. “We’re a different team this year because Mike (McClung) is a totally different player and gave us an inside presence we didn’t have.
“Even at times this season we’ve struggled scoring the basketball, but our defense has carried us all year.”
The win puts Central Aroostook back in the state championship game for the fourth time since 2005. The team has picked up three gold balls, including two over Saturday’s opponent, Richmond. They beat the Bobcats both in 2006 and 2008. Game time will be approximately 3 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.
