Central Gets a Split

There were 23 games on the schedule last night and there were only 2 that finished as a 2 possession game, which is to say that it wasn't an epic night of basketball.

The MCI girls and Central went down to the buzzer. MCI had the ball with 1.2 seconds to go and a chance to go the length of the floor and pull off a miracle, but Central picked off a pass at mid-court to preserve a 28-26 victory.

In what was probably the highlight of the night, the Sumner boys overcame a 12-point deficit behind 22 points from Connor Eastman to overtake Central. A busy night for Central. You win some, you lose some.

In the Game of the Day, Mount Blue built a double-digit lead, only for Lewiston to come charging back in the third quarter.

But Mount Blue was able to right the ship and hold on for a 7-point win.

Last night, the Mr. & Miss Basketball Draft episode of the podcast debuted on YouTube.

We get 3 points for a winner, 2 for a finalist, and 1 for a semi-finalist. We definitely left some talent on the board. Here's the draft picks in the order we drafted them.

We took 21 players for 20 semifinalist spots. I like all of our picks and I still had 5 or 6 players left on my list that I think will have very strong cases and I'm sure there's another 5 or 6 I'm missing. It just goes to show the depth of talent in the state.

Let me know in the comments who you think had the best draft. Apologies to whoever's name I inevitably spelled wrong.

We also picked some "Diaper Dandies" from the stellar freshman class, but you'll have to listen for those picks.

Heal points are updating. If you're new here, my version of the Heal Points is behind the paywall, but it's also one of the most popular features on the site, as it's infinitely easier to use than the MPA's site.

The Power Rankings are updated. There's the usual caveat here. The rankings start with last year's final rankings and go from there (hence, Falmouth being 2nd). It'll take a couple of games for this to work itself out. This football season, the Model was weird for 3 games and then locked in for week 4. That's roughly where basketball usually locks in, but it depends on who teams play and all that.

You never want anyone to get hurt, but Tennessee forward Cade Phillips is out for the year with a shoulder injury and speculation in Knoxville is that JP Estrella is likely in line for extra minutes in Phillips' absence.

How Tennessee basketball roster changes after Cade Phillips surgery

Cade Phillips is set to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. Here is what it means for the Tennessee basketball roster for the rest of the season.

Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville News Sentinel

Estrella is currently averaging 11 ppg in only 13.4 minutes.

I'm not sure we fully understand just how good that Montverde team was.

I don't want to name names here, but YIKES.

You've gotta do the circles for free throws. This is just chaos.

A couple of years ago, back when Lizzie Gruber was a Senior, a common complaint was that Gardiner and Oceanside were both in the KVAC and yet we didn't get the Gruber vs. Bailey Breen matchup everyone wanted to see. In the intervening years, great strides have been made in scheduling. Ok, maybe great strides is a bit much. But we're getting a KVAC matchup between a Miss Basketball favorite and a Breen. Progress!

After a brief sojourn in Florida, Olivia Breen is back in Maine as part of the Year of the Freshmen. She had 33 in the opener against Morse. She'll get the first real test of her high school career in the House that Cindy Blodgett Built against Maddie Provost and Lawrence. Provost was the first female taken in the Mr/Miss Basketball Draft and is the consensus front-runner. Provost and the Bulldogs won the Gold Ball her freshman year, knocking off Gruber and Gardiner along the way, but have come up short in the last 2 playoffs. They'll be looking for revenge this season.

Epic Vue Studios should have the stream.

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