Raiders Pull Away From Cougars for State Title

by Bob McPhee
     
     AUGUSTA - The Dirigo boys' basketball team was on the verge of history in the 2010 Class C state championship game as they had erased a deficit. However, Washington Academy hit a higher gear to come away with a 70-58 win at the Civic Center.
     It was a bitter pill for Dirigo, who lost to Calais 40-39 in the state game last year. The Cougars won back-to-back state basketball championships in 1982 and 1983.
     Dirigo had trailed 56-53 following a Spencer Ross three pointer and an Eric Bolduc free throw. It proved to be the Cougars last gasp, which scored five points in the last three minutes.
     “Of course it’s disappointing,” said Dirigo coach Dave Gerrish said. “They’re strong kids and wanted to come out and do their best and try to win this game. We thought we might be able to make a run at (Raiders) and we did. We knew we had to chip away, but again, they made big plays and we didn’t."
     Dirigo had four players score double figures, Tyler Chiasson and Tyler Gates each scored 14 points, Nic Crutchfield and Bolduc added 10 each.
     Dirigo (18-4) had determined from info gathered, WA (21-1) used an up-temp offense, with dribble penetration to their advantage. They have a good mix of athletic players. The Cougars knew they needed a great effort on the defensive end, boxing out, and playing hard for 32 minutes.
     WA was led by Noah Van Rotz and Ben Teer with 22 and 20 points, respectively. The Raiders shot 43 percent from the floor, but made 21 of 28 free throws, 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter.
     The Raiders led 40-30 early in the third quarter, but Dirigo made a run scoring nine points behind two baskets and a free throw by Bolduc and a Crutchfield jump shot. The Cougars pulled to within one point when Chiasson scored off a Crutchfield pass. Chiasson made a three-point conventional play, but Teer drained a trey to give WA a 47-43 lead at the end of three quarters.
     “It seemed in the third quarter, we made plays,” said Gerrish. “But, they answered back with some plays. They just made a couple more than we did.”
     It was evident WA was quicker and crashed the boards to get second and third shots, in addition to getting to many easy baskets. The Raiders zone defense kept extending out to pick-up Chiasson, who brought the ball into the front court.
     The Cougars shot 40 percent and made five of eight free throws in the game, Dirigo seemed tentative in second quarter (three of 15 shots) and trailed by 12 points. A basket by Kyle Hutchinson and two free throws by Ross made the score 32-24 at halftime.
     Despite the fast-paced game, Dirigo and WA turned the ball over 13 and 12 times, respectively.
     Dirigo had jumped ahead 7-0 early and Gates (two treys) scored 10 of the team 13 points in the first quarter.