BANGOR, Maine — Penquis Valley coach Tony Hamlin has been around long enough to recognize when his team is outmanned.
With his team dealing with foul trouble, veteran Lee Academy coach Randy Harris knew enough not to push his luck against a Hamlin-coached squad.
The result was nearly two full overtimes worth of holding the basketball and watching the clock run. In the end, it was a free throw that decided the outcome.
D.J. Johnson made the first of a two-shot foul situation with 5.8 seconds left in the second overtime Friday, giving top-seeded Lee Academy a 51-50 victory over No. 4 Penquis of Milo in an Eastern Maine Class C boys basketball semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium.
“I just knew we needed one. Two would be prime, but we needed to get one,” said Johnson, who poured in a game-high 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The 18-2 Pandas take on No. 7 Houlton (11-10) in Saturday’s 8:35 p.m. regional championship game at the Auditorium. Penquis finishes at 18-3.
The contest featured some extremes.
Lee used a 15-0 run to build a 37-23 advantage midway through the third quarter, only to watch Penquis rattle off 14 unanswered points during a 22-2 surge that gave the Patriots a 45-39 lead with 4:44 left in regulation.
The Pandas regained their composure down the stretch, but Isaiah Bess (24 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals) make two foul shots with 13.1 seconds to play to send the game into overtime tied 49-49.
“I’m proud of those kids because they worked their butts off,” Hamlin said. “They played a team that’s more talented than they are but they kind of just played ‘D’ and gritted it out.”
The teams traded foul shots in the first extra frame, before Lee decided to hold the ball against Penquis’ 2-3 zone.
Each coach had a rationale for making the moves he did.
Lee didn’t want to risk further fouls.
“Boubacar (Diallo) had four fouls, D.J. had four fouls,” Harris explained. “That’s our two leading scorers, probably our two best players. I said, ‘we’re going to get the last shot to win it. We don’t want to have to play defense and have one of those guys get a fifth foul and be done.”
Hamlin, whose team had its hands full trying to contain the Pandas, chose the path of least resistance.
“I’d rather play a good team 30 seconds than four minutes,” Hamlin said.
“We saved our legs, stayed back and I said we’ll play it for the last 30 seconds and see if we can win it. It wasn’t to be.”
The Pandas eventually turned the ball over with 4.5 seconds left on an out-of-bounds violation along the end line. Bess subsequently got a decent look for Penquis, but his 18-footer glanced off the rim at the buzzer.
Lee again won the tip in the second OT and held the ball until Johnson missed in the lane and Bess rebounded with 15 seconds remaining. However, Lee’s Jasil Elder made a clutch steal and Johnson got to the line where he made the eventual game-winner.
Diallo rose above the crowd to snatch the offensive rebound and Lee called timeout, only to have Bess steal the ensuing inbounds pass and miss a 30-foot runner as time expired.
“We thought we were just going to try to grind it out until the end, but they fought back, they got a lot of rebounds,” Johnson said. “It was quite the game.”
Elder contributed 10 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a blocked shot for the Pandas. Diallo posted 10 points, seven boards and three steals.
Bess paced Penquis with 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals while Trevor Lyford tossed in 17 points.
High school basketball definately needs a shot clock or some regulation. Theres not much talent or skill in holding the ball! It was a great game up until the overtime, that kinda leaves a bad taste in your mouth. But kudos to Penquis for being patient – good job guys and you can be proud you actually “played” ball! And I am a neutral fan when it comes to these two teams.
Didn’t get to see or hear the game, but I do know that Penquis is a good team that is the product of local talent. I’m not going to say anything negative about Lee, but Milo has always been a great basketball town. Congrats to both. I’ll always wish for the Piscataquis County team to win, good luck next year guys!
You’re kidding me right? I can see that everyone has somehow forgotten the Lee/Penquis game last year in the tournament. Penquis stalled THE WHOLE GAME, and nobody said a word about that! I would be embarrassed to be on that Penquis team, and you all have forgotten to mention that Penquis didn’t even attempt to play defense on them when Lee was holding the ball. But I guess no matter what Lee does the little trolls on the internet are going to be against them, and have something to b*tch about.
Just like you b*tchin about Penquis.
I was gonna say that this Penquis v Lee game was the best basketball game I’d ever seen. But……… after watching Lee hold the ball for 4-5 minutes, I’d say that I’m pretty disappointed. This is why there should be a shot clock in HS basketball.
Really? they played the stall game? Are you kidding me? Again I didn’t see it or listen to it……but ….really?
That’s lame, that’s not basketball. You are correct, there should be a shot clock, not necessarily 24 seconds, but at least 40 seconds. wow, didn’t know that happened. That indicates to me that Lee knew they couldn’t win straight up.
I played against Randy Harris, in the tournament. I know how he played then. He spit on my shoe while bringing the ball up many times, just to distract you and try to steal the ball. and pinched my shirt to hang on. We lost by 1 as well. (and no…he never got the ball, he looked right at me and spit, twice it hit my leg. He did this to whomever had the ball) He shot foul shots granny style, which was prime for comment..for us on the court. I won’t continue further but he missed foul shots.
Randy Harris is a jerk but you don’t know that “Lee knew they couldn’t win straight up”. The vitriol about Lee Academy is getting more than a tad old. People have spent the entire season running their mouths and fully 99% of what’s been said is beyond poor sportsmanship and, in fact, a lie.
I’m not knocking Lee per se. I hope that the more local team wins, and if they do, I hope that they win at the states. I know that Randy is very competitive.
However, the only reason you run a stall, for that long, is to keep the ball away from the other team obviously. When I said “straight up”, and if you are running a stall for many minutes, it’s an indication that you are having difficulties preventing the other team from scoring. If this was the case, then the “straight up” comment was correct.
Good Luck to you and your team, I hope you win, honest.
You obviously have no clue who you are talking about…Randy Harris never shot foul shots granny style…that was his younger brother Mark….as usual someone with an axe to grind making up crap…as for constantly spitting on whoever had the ball I highly doubt that as well. And oh by the way….Mark didn’t miss many shots that way. As for hanging on to shirts….you see that every day in every game…grow up and get over it and please get your facts right.
Interesting
lee’s got a busy month or so coming up. tomorrow the emaine final, next week the state final and then 3 to 4 solid weeks of basketball recruiting.
congrats houlton on being the true easternmaine class c champion.
I hope Houlton wipes the floor with them.
I’m so sick of people condemning Lee Academy because they have exchange students. You people who keep flapping about Lee don’t know anything about it. Lee Academy has NEVER recruited basketball players. Lee Academy has NEVER had their kids scrimmage with the post-grad team (another popular untrue rumor making the rounds). I didn’t hear anyone complain when the Houlton teams dominated year after year. In other words, get over it.
I’m not condemning the school or the boys accomplishments. All I did was question the coach’s reasoning as to why the stall. I have no idea what happened last year, nor do I know what happened this year. But I do know basketball, and if you stall for that amount of time, in a double overtime game, the reason is clear; your defense wasn’t strong enough to stop them. That’s all. I want them to play ball, not keep away I guess. My comment’s are observations only, it’s not based on bad coaching, if you think about it, you play the game to win, Randy did exactly that.
Good luck to Coach Harris and the boys.
Let the kids play! I could see holding the ball if you were up by one or two points, but wasting an entire OT just to have a second one is not teaching the kids good sportsmanship. Let alone teaching them they have what it takes to run the plays they’ve worked so hard on and actually earn their win.
Patience is one thing, but playing stall-ball sucks.
I never thought I would say this but it is time for a shot clock in high school basketball and the way that Lee did not play basketball in the overtimes is the reason why. We all know that what they did is within the rules of the present system but it is not playing basketball. To use the excuse that if they had played then some of the better players may have fouled out is a sad excuse. If you coach well then your players minimize their fouls and stay in the game. I must say I think having his players stand at mid court holding the ball borders on poor sportsmanship and robbed the fans from seeing some exciting basketball which they paid to see.
That is ludicrous. It does make for a less exciting game when a team chooses to use the clock by holding the ball. Having said that, the rules are the same for everybody. If you don’t like the rules lobby to get them changed but don’t make it seem like Lee has cheated.
Penquis chose not to play – it was both sides….no one twisted Hamlin’s arm behind his back….both coaches made their choices…Lee wins…game over.
Can anyone out there explain to me why there is not already a Shoot Clock for H.S. Basketball??? I’m just curious…??