Call it a Comeback

Now that we're on to the semifinals, not only are we done with NFHS (thank goodness), we can use replay for buzzer-beaters. Why can't we use replay for the quarterfinals? Because NFHS can't handle it with their technology.

But what are the chances we'd actually need to use it?

Let's go to Bangor!

With time running out in the first half and #1 Cony trailing #5 Ellsworth by 1, Parker Morin's attempt at the buzzer was, well, see for yourself.

I'm pretty sure that's Peter Murray doing color for WHOU. And, yeah, that's as close as you can get.

It's also late.

The game came down to the wire. Carter Braithwaite scored to break a tie at 62 and Ellsworth had a couple of shots to either send the game into OT or win it at the buzzer, including a very open look from three, but they couldn't convert and Cony escaped with a 66-64 win.

Cony will face their rivals from Gardiner in the Regional Final and, yes, they'll both drive past the Augusta Civic Center--a perfectly good tournament venue--to play the game in Bangor.

There's a couple of things about this. On the face of things, it's a little strange to not play this game in Augusta. The crowd would certainly be larger at the ACC than it will be in Bangor, although I suspect Cony and Gardiner will both travel well. Those are dedicated fan bases. Add in that Cony hasn't won a Gold Ball since 1978 and Gardiner has never won one and they'll be hyped. And it's not that bad of a drive. It's almost entirely highway.

It has been suggested--and I have long advocated for it--that the schedules could, in this era where everything is digital and we have super computers in our pockets that show us the live stats in Bangor as we watch the game in Portland, be less set in stone. Maybe we move the Cony/Gardiner Regional Final to Augusta? While in theory, this is a great idea, you'd probably have to move the Gardiner/Lawrence Regional Final too and there's not an obvious game to swap it with, unless you want to send Mt. Ararat and Brunswick to Bangor. What makes a lot more sense is shuffling the schedule within a site. This year we had the Gardiner girls play Cony in a quarterfinal that started at 8:30pm in Bangor.

We can't shuffle these around? Maybe put Presque Isle/Hermon first, then Cony/PI, Gardiner/Cony, and finish with MDI/Ellsworth? Or avoid the situation where a school has the late game Friday evening and the first game Saturday morning? There's potential! We don't have to rely on schedules in the newspaper anymore. Then again, I saw about 500 comments on Facebook today wondering why the semifinals aren't on NFHS.

Back to the games.

They say in football that it's hard to beat a good team three times, so it must be even harder to beat a good team four times.

This year, the Bangor Christian and Penobscot Valley girls played at each other's home courts, plus a neutral site game at the Pit. BC won all three.

In the semifinal matchup, the Howlers jumped out to a 6-0 lead and survived 18 points from Mary Allen and used a 16-3 third quarter to advance to the D North Regional Final, 52-37. Lila Cummings led the way with 12.

It can be really hard to win in tournament play. You can't slip up, especially against a team as good as Penobscot Valley. And sometimes the most important thing in tourney play is to not have some fluke injury that, say, sends you to the dentist in the middle of the game.

Early blow to face sends Maine basketball player to dentist during tournament game

The top-ranked Bangor Christian girls basketball team lost one of its key players early on during its semifinal face off against PVHS.

Bangor Daily NewsMatt Junker, Larry Mahoney

Penobscot Valley will continue their title defense against Machias. The second seeded Bulldogs pulled away from Central Aroostook late. Aubrey Wood scored 18 in the win.

The York boys had their fluke injury in the quarterfinals when center Callan Forbes' knee buckled on him as he went up for a dunk. There was a real question of whether or not he'd be able to play and the way he was running up and down the floor at times, I suspect he would not have played if it were a regular season game. He made his presence known with a blocked shot in the first minute of the game and with a line of 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots, he gave the Wildcats more than they could have hoped for.

And when York went on a 20-2 run in the third quarter, it looked like they'd be headed for their second straight regional final. But Yarmouth righted the ship. They got the lead down to 11 after 3, then they shot 67% from the floor in the 4th quarter, went 8/12 from the line, and held York to 28%. When Reece MacDonald's 3 came up short in the final seconds, it appeared they had won it in regulation, but York had 0.9 seconds for a miracle.

That's Ronin Avery with the shot to send the game to overtime, but it was a temporary reprieve. Yarmouth won it in overtime, 77-72, and will face Medomak Valley in a rematch of the 2022 Regional Final. Adam Maxwell had 25. Ian Lawrence went for 19 & 12. Reece MacDonald had 22 for York on 35(!) shots.

To say Medomak had a good first half is an understatement. Mason Nguyen's second three of the game gave the Panthers a 24-7 lead and they led by 23 at the half behind a monster effort from Kollin Donlin. Medomak out-rebounded Poland 30-7 in the half and had as many assists as the Knights had rebounds.

The Medomak lead was 20 when Shawn West hit a three with a little over 6 minutes to play and then, much like you see sometimes in the NBA, a team with a big lead took their foot off the gas a little bit and the other team got hot. Poland hit 5 of their next 6 threes to cut the lead to 3 and the Poland crowd was going absolutely wild the entire time, doing everything they could to will their team to victory.

With under a minute to go, Nick Jamo missed a deep three that would have tied it. Donlin got the rebound and made one of two free throws, but Mason Nguyen pulled down the offensive board, Luke Cheesman hit one of two free throws. On the other end, Donlin blocked Damon Martin's layup attempt, collected the rebound, and Medomak iced the Poland comeback attempt at the line to advance to their third Regional Final in 5 years. Donlin had a breakout game with 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. Mason Nguyen added 18 & 11. Nick Jamo's 17 fueled the Poland rally.

Poland got so hot they wore out the net.

Nolan Ames added his own buzzer-beater in Camden's win over Bangor. It wasn't as good as the 2 he hit on Senior Night, but it wasn't bad.

Ames finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Windjammers reached their first Regional Final since 2011. They'll face Brunswick, who pulled away from Edward Little late.

In another big comeback, Ellsworth put together a 19-4 run in the third quarter, but Lawrence held on and the Maddie Provost Revenge Tour continued. Provost had 21. Ashley Shores added 14 & 10.

Elsewhere

Trace Moody scored 14 and Brady Atwater had 12 as Gardiner used a 26-5 fourth quarter to pull away from Hermon...Kayleigh Wagg scored 19 points and Mt. Ararat shot 8/16 from three in a convincing win over Edward Little...Maddie McMahon led a balanced Gardiner attack with 11 & 5...Abbey Steele's 16 points and Bryn Gilmore's 15 & 8 helped GNG pull away from Marshwood...The Oceanside girls erased a 9-point deficit in the 2nd quarter and pulled away in the second half to eliminate York. Olivia Breen led all scorers with 22 points and Renee Ripley had 11 & 13...Tyler Day had 16 points and Monmouth overcame a 26-10 free throw disadvantage...Grace LaBree's blocked shot snuffed out Camden's potential game-winner.

Gold Ball Odds are updated

And let's take a look at the player stats from Girls B North. Are we not talking about Ashley Shores enough?

Don't look now, but Mother Nature might be inserting herself into the Regional Final schedule.

This year Sunday is available as a back-up day for the tournament. It doesn't look like we'll need it, but it's there if we do.

It's no surprise that the Game of the Day would come from the girls A South semifinals.

South Portland has the top defense in A South and put the clamps on Westbrook in the second half in the quarterfinals. They also just happen to be the defending state champs in a region with 3 Regional Champions from last season.

The one team left standing who isn't a Regional Champion is Sanford, who haven't won a region in 20 years. But they've got sophomore Mollie Puffer, who had the best quarterfinal stat line in A South--boys or girls.

It's Annie Whitmore and Mollie Puffer to kick off what promises to be a very fun day at the Expo. Get there early.

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