Regional Sports Icy shooting causes early exits • Medomak pulls away from Lakers

By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer

PORTLAND — When Coach Doug Banks is asked what happened to his Laker girls in their Class B quarterfinal loss Saturday, he could easily point to one stat as a big reason.

4-of-22.

Although his club had struggled from time to time at the foul line during the regular season, Coach Banks remained dumbfounded that his club shot so poorly from the charity stripe in the 41-31 loss to Medomak Valley.

“If we had made just half of our free throws and had a few shots fall, our season wouldn’t be over after one playoff game,” the first-year coach said. “As a coach and a big fan of these girls, it’s beyond frustrating that we did not play well — not even close to what we are capable of.”

The Lakers fell behind 4-0 to start the game, but seemed to shake some jitters and found a rhythm as senior Melissa Mayo (8 points, 7 rebounds) connected on a 3-pointer and later scored on an offensive rebound as teammate Bella Smith kept the play alive with a tip.

The Lakers closed out the quarter with an 8-2 run as Smith showed a quick burst along the end line to beat her defender for a bucket, and on the next possession, pulled the trigger on a straight-away 3-pointer that barely moved the twines.

Mayo closed out the frame with a corner 3-pointer to put the Lakers up 14-9.

Quarter 2 was a nightmare for the Lakers. They failed to score a field goal, and went 6 minutes and 40 seconds without scoring a point until Smith finally ended the drought by sinking one of two foul shots. LR was 1 of 10 from the foul line.

“We lost our confidence, and we panicked,” Coach Banks said. Medomak played aggressively on the defensive end, rarely giving Mayo — the Laker’s best sharpshooter — any clean looks. Meanwhile, Panther junior center Maya Canon was a vacuum inside. Canon cleaned up every missed Laker shot, hauling down 9 rebounds in the second period. She finished the game with 21 boards and a blocked shot, while adding 6 points.

If there was a silver lining to scoring just one point in the quarter, the Lakers returned to the locker room tied with the Panthers, 15-15. Medomak also struggled scoring the basket, shooting a feeble 4-of-10 from the foul line, while sophomore guard Kytana Williamson (14 points, 3 rebounds) netted the lone field goal, a pull-up jumper early in the quarter.

“What happened in the second? I don’t know. I’ve watched the game tape, and I still can’t explain it. I thought we played out of control at times, and I don’t think we played with the confidence we showed all season,” Coach Banks said. “Defensively, we did a good job. The girls rotated well, and made it difficult on them to get good looks. The Medomak coach told me after the game that they hadn’t seen that kind of defensive effort all season.”

Trying to settle his group down, Coach Banks told his players to relax, have some fun and run the offense “and good things will happen.”

Bella Smith (10 points) continued her strong play, scoring the team’s first 4 points to keep the game tied.

Panther sophomore forward Audrey Jackson seemed to light the offensive spark Medomak was looking for when she knocked down a corner 3-pointer. It triggered a 14-4 run as the Panthers built the game’s biggest lead, 33-23.

LR managed a nifty drive to the rim by Margo Tremblay (6 points) and guard Abby Lavoie (4 points) ended an 11-0 MV run with a steal and lay-up with 29.1 left on the clock.

Knowing their season was on the line, the Lakers dug deep and played with greater scrappiness in the fourth quarter. Mayo made two outstanding passes resulting in lay-ups by Lavoie and center Ava Smith, who had a tough time getting to the rim against the stingy Panther front line of Canon, Addison McCormick and Madilyn Simmons. Smith,

• Perry tough for Raiders to handle

By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Fryeburg Academy had no answer for Marshwood senior big man Andrew Perry.

Perry scored a game-high 17 points, dominated the lane with three blocked shots and hauling down 13 rebounds to lead the third-ranked Hawks (14-5) to a 51-35 win over the Raiders (9-10) in the Class A South quarterfinals Saturday at the Banks Exposition Building in Portland.

“Andrew Perry is a heck of a basketball player. He can beat you from the inside and from 3. I thought we did a really good job not giving him any looks from 3 (he sank just one trey), but he was able to finish inside through double teams,” FA Coach Dan Thomas said. “He’s a strong kid and he played a big game. I thought Lorenzo Catana did a great job on him and our defense was working, but if he’s gonna make shots through double teams, what can you do?”

Marshwood had four players to reach double digits, while Catana was the lone Raider to reach that level, scoring 13 points, including three 3-pointers.

In a quirky start, Fryeburg fell behind 2-0 before the ball was put into play. As players, coaches and fans faced the flag for the National Anthem, the scoreboard read, Raiders, Team Fouls 1.

Initially, it appeared the scoreboard operator had incorrectly placed a 1 rather than a 0. No mistake. FA had been whistled for a technical foul. According to an MPA official, a Raider had dunked the ball during pre-game warm-ups — a violation, which carried two foul shots for the Hawks and possession. Cooper Alguier made both foul shots, and Perry scored in the lane for a quick 4-0 Hawk lead.

“The players and I were aware of the rule. We talked about it early in the season and never had an issue with it, so I didn’t make a note of reminding us of it again,” Coach Thomas said. “Big game. Big arena. I’m sure (Joao) Orlando just got excited. I never saw him dunk in any warm-ups this year, including the game at the Expo.”

Senior guard Bryce Richardson knocked down a corner 3-pointer and Orlando netted a shot in the lane to put Fryeburg up 5-4. A baseline drive and floater by Gunnar Saunders (7 points, 6 rebounds) gave FA a 7-6 lead, which would be the last time the Raiders would be ahead.

Jason Singer (11 points, 6 rebounds) scored an inside hoop to put the Hawks up 8-7 after one quarter.

FA went nearly five minutes without a hoop as Perry blocked a pair of drives to the rim, and contested other attempts which took Raider shooters out of rhythm.

“He (Perry) did make some great defensive plays for them. I tried to encourage our guys to continue to attack, but his presence may have gotten into some guys’ minds,” Coach Thomas said. “We only shot one free throw the whole game. I would say it was more the discipline of their zone defense and their size down low than it was a couple of blocks early. They are a great defensive team.”

FA did not go to the foul line through three quarters, finally getting one shot late on a Saunders make and a foul.

Meanwhile, the Hawks went to the line 7 times in the first half, connecting on five shots. They were 7-of-12 for the game.

Fryeburg finally ended their scoring drought on a Richardson to Orlando connection. Cam Johnson’s corner 3-ball trimmed the deficit to 16-14, and Catana’s 3-pointer tied the game 17-17. Johnson’s hustle crashing the boards gave FA the extra possession and Catana cashed in.

Marshwood took a 19-17 lead into the break as Singer