Double Dunk Technical

Let's go to Freeport where the Brunswick boys are a 15-point favorite.

In very very first minute of the game, with Brunswick trailing 2-0, Logan Gray gets a steal, takes off and throws home a dunk, stay on the rim for a beat to let the defenders clear and the official gives him his first dunk technical of the year.

I haven't been able to clear the video of the dunk yet for public consumption, but I've seen it and even by Maine standards, it's soft. Is he on the rim a little? Sure. But there's momentum from the fast break and two defenders around his legs, one of whom he nearly accidentally kicks in the groin.

After Freeport misses the technical free throws, a Brunswick fan yells out "BALL DON'T LIE". As he should.

CUT TO:

Just over 2 minutes left in the half with Brunswick leading 31-16, Gray gets another steal, races down the floor, and throws it down again. This time, he's going a little faster and there's more momentum so he swings further. It's not a dunk worthy of technical, but you can certainly see why the guy who called the first one would think it was, because it looked a little bit worse. So Gray's night was over in the first half with an only-in-Maine double dunk technical disqualification.

I'll work on trying to get video cleared. If you were there and got some: mainebasketballrankings@gmail.com is the email address.

Now, you could say that after the first technical, Gray should have been more careful. He could, after all, simply lay the ball in instead of dunking. He could also do a simple two-handed set shot or make sure his team passed the ball 4 times before shooting. But that's dumb. Let the kids dunk. It's fun and it's not hurting anyone. Unless they fall on a defender underneath where they're trying to land because they're trying to avoid a dumb technical.

I would argue that the official (yes, it was the same official) should be cognizant of which player already has a highly questionable technical foul and not give him another one--IN THE FIRST HALF--unless it's really egregious and this was far from egregious.

This is the third player I've seen this season disqualified because of a technical foul and all three of them were complete nonsense. You can just give a warning and make sure the kids can stay in the game. If they foul out, ok. But ending their game because they were a little extra after the play is over? That's soft.

The Year of the Freshmen has so far lived up to expectations. You could make an All-State Freshmen team and have players on the Second Team that'd usually be in contention for Player of the Year.

Last night, the Freshman Class leveled up in a big way.

Oceanside's Olivia Breen scored the Mariners' first 25 points of the game. Yes, their first twenty five points of the game. She had 35 at halftime and finished with 50--FIFTY--in a win over Lincoln Academy.

Fifty is a big deal.

Pete Rogers designs a special jersey whenever a NBA player drops a 50 burger.

50 is rare in Maine high school basketball and rarer still in girls high school basketball. The question was presented by an Oceanside parent: is 50 a Maine Freshman record? The Frank Spanky site doesn't seem to have this. A couple of potential names come to mind. Cooper didn't score 50. Did Cindy Blodgett? Parise Rossignol was the fastest to 1,000 points, so if you're looking for someone who might have had a scoring explosion early, that's a candidate. But you also have to wonder if Breen can break Rossignol's record (35 games, which is 28.6 ppg). I say go for it. You only live once.

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In the preseason, you heard rumblings that "Sanford is going to be pretty good", but I'm not sure anyone saw this, exactly. They're now 9-0 and have nearly wrapped up the 1 seed in A South. A lot of people attributed Noble's ascent the last couple of years to Jamier Rose, but Coach John Morgan was a major factor and now, in his first season at Sanford, is proving to be one of the best young coaches in the state.

TA boys have no answers for undefeated Sanford

SACO—Thornton Academy’s boys’ basketball team thought it was up for the challenge Thursday evening when the high-flying, undefeated Sanford Spartans paid a visit to Linnell Gymnasium. But there’s no simulating how Sanford plays, how it runs-and-guns and how it scores and while the Golden Trojans believed they were ready

Hoffer's High School SportsMichael Hoffer

Elsewhere

Foxcroft's Lennon McAfee drilled 9 3's in a win over Dexter...Ava Lerman dropped 30 on Madawaska...Gabby Silva had 19 in Biddeford's win over Deering...Kylie Lamson and Kristin King each had 14 as Cheverus rolled by Bonny Eagle...Maddie Cronkite had 14 in Camden's blowout of Oxford Hills...Freeport erupted for 17 4th quarter points behind Emily Groves' 15 to rally past Brunswick...Hannah Hussey's 17 led Greely past Lake Region...Reece MacDonald had 27 as York shut down GNG in the 2nd half...Gio Staples had 25 and 6 steals as Westbrook beat 'Bunk in the Game of the Day...Dylan Gendron (23) and Ryan Alexander (21) combined for 7 3's as Sanford outlasted TA...Collin Verrill's 16 & 14 led Pine Tree by Telstar...Mt. Blue's Oliver Cormier had 22 in the win over Mt. Ararat...Bailey Tardif-Mockler (20) fueled Lewiston's second half comeback over Messo...Isabelle Tice's 21 led Marshwood over Falmouth...Mt. Ararat's Cali LeClair dropped 28 on Mt. Blue...Mollie Puffer had 26 in Sanford's win over TA...Levi Laverdiere had 21 in Monmouth's win over NYA...Lewiston used a 22-5 second quarter to put away Messo....Andrew Fortier and Brandon Levesque each scored 17 in Gorham's win over Noble...Max Bouchard's 25 & 16 led Bonny Eagle over Cheverus...Destiny Peters' 21 & 17 fueled SoPo's win over Portland...Ava Bolden had 17 in Westbrook's win over Kennebunk...Nolan Ames dropped 33 on Oxford Hills...Dominic Hau's 17 led Falmouth over Marshwood...Owen Corrigan had 22 in Caribou's win over Fort Kent. Tobias Naranja had 23 in the loss...Ava Ezell had 26 of Hodgdon's 38...Ally Shields had 29 in Southern Aroostook's win over Van Buren.

Southern Aroostook's Ally Shields will be continuing her playing career at UMPI.

One of Aroostook County’s Best Announces Commitment to UMPI - University of Maine at Presque Isle

PRESQUE ISLE, ME

University of Maine at Presque IsleUniversity of Maine at Presque Isle

Well, I believe this is a first. We have a tie for the Game of the Day.

Both Hermon @ Gardiner and Medomak @ Cony clock in with a Stax Index of 88.0, which is quite good. Naturally, we have to take it out further and there's a little separation--Medomak/Cony is 87.99 and Hermon/Gardiner is 87.98, but we're going to go with Hermon/Gardiner. It's their only meeting of the year and Cony will head down to Medomak on the 15th, where it's on pace to be Game of the Day, so Hermon/Gardiner it is.

Hermon enters the game 8-1 on a 6 game winning streak after a loss to Belfast and in first place in B North. They've got one of the stingier defenses in Class B at 44.6 points allowed. Perhaps more impressively, they're 2nd in Class B in %Perfect at 82.43%, a measure of how well a team converts opportunities for points in the Power Rankings. Even better, the number goes up in games against teams in the Top 25. They've played 4, which is a lot!

They'll head to Gardiner Area High School to take on the Tigers. Gardiner is also 8-1 and on a 5-game winning streak (they lost to Brunswick). Gardiner enters the game with a top-15 scoring offense and the 5th best %Perfect in Class B at 66.67%, but that number drops against the Top 25, mostly because of the loss to Brunswick which was...not close.

The question here is which game is the outlier: Gardiner's loss to Brunswick, Hermon's loss to Belfast, or something else?

Munzing Media will have the stream of this one.

Could we maybe move one of these games up a little and the other one back so I can drive over and catch the second half? Just a thought.

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