A Gold Ball Rematch

For the Game of the Day, I took my first-ever trip to Windham for Windham/SoPo in front of a packed house. And why wouldn't it be? Two of the top teams in the state in a rematch from the State Championship game.

It was electric from the tip. Leonel Despacho pointed to the Windham student section after hitting an early 3 right in front of them. A.J. Moody was taking charges. It was the full experience.

Windham raced out to an early 10-2 lead, but SoPo erased that just as quickly and the teams traded blows. Then the game got a little weird. SoPo picked up a technical in the second quarter. Then Windham was given a warning after the ball rolled slowly by a ref and he asked a player who was further from the ball than he was to pick it up. I'm not sure how that was worthy of a warning, but it was!

SoPo got a golden opportunity in the second quarter where Colin Janvrin picked up his third foul and Tyrie James left for a couple of minutes with an injury, but they couldn't extend their lead.

Anyway, SoPo took a 32-28 margin into the half. Windham took the lead for good at the end of the third quarter then slowly pulled away in the fourth quarter, but not before they picked up their own technical. It was one of those games and if it had stayed close, it felt like something weird might happen, but Windham made the right plays down the stretch and SoPo couldn't find the shots they needed to keep pace.

A.J. Moody finished it with an exclamation point.

Moody had 13 points, 9 boards, and took a couple of charges. The usual A.J. Moody experience. Leonel Despacho had 18 for SoPo and James led all scorers with 21, including this nifty layup.

Michael Hoffer was there.

Round one goes to Windham after fourth quarter surge beats South Portland

WINDHAM—It was very much a championship atmosphere Friday evening and the Windham and South Portland boys’ basketball teams lived up to the hype in a midseason showdown reminiscent of last year’s Class AA state final. After the host Eagles and Red Riots went back-and-forth for three quarters, it was

Hoffer's High School SportsMichael Hoffer

The Valley girls have been, to put it lightly, destroying teams and took a 30 game winning streak into their matchup last night with Bangor Christian. But Bangor Christian got an influx of talent this summer when Mary and Annie Allen transferred from Dexter and it paid off on Friday night. Mary Allen went off for 36 points, including this 3 with 30 seconds left to give the Patriots the lead.

Up in Turner, Leavitt overcame Poland in a triple-overtime classic. Colin Schlobohm had 27 points and 10 boards for the Hornets. Damon Martin had 24 for Poland in the losing effort.

You can watch the full broadcast on YouTube via Buzz Media.

Penobscot Valley's Rylee Moulton scored her 1,000th point last night against Schenck.

Congrats!

There's been a lot of talk of this year's freshman class--and for good reason. Two of the early standouts faced off in Augusta, as Carter Braithwaite and Cony hosted Gage Mattson and Maranacook.

Cony entered the game with the top scoring offense in the state at 79.7 points a game and Maranacook had twice scored more than 75 in a game, so it had potential to be a high scoring matchup.

It did not disappoint.

Braithwaite scored 24 points and Mattson had 29, but Cony prevailed 96-74. Quite a whiplash for Maranacook after playing Spruce in the 30s earlier in the week.

Elsewhere

Micah Fagonde hit 6 3s and scored 25 points as Medomak coasted by Lawrence...Falmouth's Dominic Hau had 23 in a win over Biddeford...Gardiner got 25 points from Trace Moody and Gardiner held off a Lincoln Academy rally on the road...Sarae Devoe had 16 in Buckfield's win over Monmouth...Kylie Lamson's 22 fueled Cheverus' win over Westbrook...Lauren Dunbar's 15 led Gorham by Kennebunk...Bryn Gilmore had 21 as GNG rolled...Maddie Provost went off for 37 on Medomak...Maddie Grimaldi had 21 & 7 as Spruce turned it on in the second half against Winslow...TA's Sienna Eldred dropped 30 on Deering...Wells opened with a 25-0 run against Winthrop. Megyn Mertens led the way with 21...Reese MacDonald's 19 gave York a signature win over Edward Little. The Eddies got 25 from Akol Maiwen...Ian Lawrence's 20 led Yarmouth over Cape...Kevin Bolduc had 18 in Wells' win over Winthrop...Dylan Jewett and Owen Kelvey combined for 28 in Spruce's win over Winslow...Fisher Tewksbury (19) and Harry Louis (17) helped Valley bounce back and beat Piscataquis, who got 27 from Brady Gaw...Jackson Stack's 22 wasn't enough for Oxford Hills to overcome Mt. Blue's balanced attack...Braden New had 22 and Oak Hill fended off a Sacopee Valley rally...Stella Goetz scored 20 to help Bapst overcome Leah Adams' 12 & 20 for Messo...Tyshawn Hall (20 & 10) and Jacob Linkletter (17 & 10) each had a double-double in Madison's win over Lisbon...Kaleb D’Andrea 17 led GNG in a blowout of Fryeburg...Nolan Ames had 22 and 7 assists as Camden stayed unbeaten.

There's a strong argument that the Game of the Day should be Caribou/Mattanawcook boys. That's what I thought it would be. But the Model prefers a rivalry game further south.

Since losing on Opening Night, the Camden girls have rolled off 6 straight wins, the closest one a 15-point win over Hampden. It's not the toughest schedule in the world, but they have two wins over teams in the top 20 and are second in Class A in scoring defense.

They'll head to Rockland to take on Oceanside. The Mariners, behind Renee Ripley and Olivia Breen, have the 4th highest scoring offense in the state. They've played two teams in the top 20– well, they've played Lawrence twice, losing in OT on the road and winning by 7 at home. This is the biggest Heal Point opportunity on the Mariners' schedule as they try to keep pace with GNG in B South.

The Model's picks for the rest of today's games are after the jump.