BANGOR — The roots of motivation can have different sources, sometimes emotional and sometimes strategic.
The Lee Academy boys basketball team found renewed spirit in both places at the Bangor Auditorium on Saturday night to rally past Houlton 58-47 and win its second consecutive Eastern Maine Class C championship.
Sophomore guard Boubacar Diallo scored 21 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as Randy Harris’ top-ranked Pandas (19-2) outscored Houlton 38-22 after intermission to advance to a state-final rematch against Dirigo of Dixfield (20-1) next Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Lee won the 2011 meeting to earn its first Class C state title.
“Energy was the difference in the second half,” said Lee senior guard Jasil Elder, a veteran of last year’s state championship run. “We played better defense and we crashed more to the rebounds on the offense and defensive ends. Everyone’s intensity was better in the second half, everyone just turned it up.”
Seventh-seeded Houlton ends its season at 11-11.
“We started the season 2-5,” said Shiretowners’ coach Rob Moran. “If you had told me then we were going to be in the Eastern Maine final and have a lead in the fourth quarter I’d have said you were nuts, but these kids worked their tails off. I didn’t think we played bad defense tonight, but Lee’s athleticism hurt us.”
Houlton held a 25-20 halftime lead as Bouchard scored 10 of his team-high 20 points and senior guard Doug Dickison added eight of his 13 points.
But it was the Shiretowners’ final basket of the half, when Daniel Swallow went to the floor to tip a loose ball to freshman standout Kyle Bouchard on the left wing for an open 3-pointer, that shaped a fiery halftime speech by Lee coach Randy Harris.
“We didn’t defend like we normally do, we didn’t get after rebounds,” said Harris. “I told the kids at halftime the stereotypical play of the first half was a loose ball on the floor, they dive and tip it to Bouchard for a three and it’s 25-20 at the half. Why weren’t there any (Lee) shirts on the floor?
“So we had a come-to-you-know-what session at the half and I told the guys, ‘If we’re going to lose I have no problem with that, but it better be with you giving your best effort and going down fighting in the second half and not standing around.
“Our effort picked up, and it made a big difference.”
Lee derived even more energy by turning to a trapping 1-3-1 halfcourt zone defense after the break to increase the pace of the game.
“Our team loves to run that halfcourt trap,” said Lee senior D.J. Johnson, who finished with 12 points. “That gets everybody going. When we start getting steals and fast-break layups, that pumps everybody up.”
Diallo was the chief offensive beneficiary of that defensive pressure, scoring 11 points in the third quarter to keep the Pandas close, then adding 10 more points during the final period as Lee finally assumed control.
“Our defense makes our offense, and our defense was very good in the second half,” said Diallo. “We put our press on and they couldn’t handle it and we got layup after layup. That’s all it was.”
And when Lee wasn’t making its initial shots, it often was getting second and even third chances — the Pandas outrebounded Houlton 25-9 in the second half, including 13-4 during the fourth quarter.
“What it came down to was their athleticism in the fourth quarter,” said Moran. “You can tell guys to box out, but when you’ve got a 5-8 guy trying to box out a 6-foot guy who’s 30 pounds bigger and much more athletic, it’s easy to say but tough to do. We boxed out guys on several occasions and they just jumped over us.”
Still the Shiretowners didn’t go away quietly, scoring the final five points of the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Kyle Buzzeo and two free throws by Bouchard to regain the lead at 38-35.
But Lee countered with seven unanswered points at the outset of the fourth quarter to take the lead for good as Haris Karagic took a pass from Johnson in for a three-point play, Diallo scored after grabbing an offensive rebound and Johnson converted a layup off a feed from Diallo.
Houlton still was within 48-45 on a jumper from the lane by Bouchard with 3:55 left, but Diallo scored the game’s next six points, all stemming from plays in the lane, to extend the Lee advantage to 54-45 with 1:41 remaining.
“I had a migrane headache from screaming ‘we’re jackiing threes, we’re jacking threes, we’re jacking threes, and that’s why teams play a 2-3 zone against us,’” said Harris, whose team was 1 for 11 from beyond the arc. “But we finally got a couple good looks down low and some and-ones and finally got in a good flow where we stopped shooting threes and started attacking the basket.”
Good job guys
Awsome having you use recruited players from different states and countrys just to beat some ballers from the county more like pathetic…….
Lee should change their school name to the “Imports” instead of the pandas. Nothing impressive about a school playing in class C eastern maine that has to recruit players from all over the country and the world to beat teams that are restricted to only players in the towns of their school’s district. They should play vs other prep schools from around the country or at least put them in Class A. Lee could never win anything if it wasn’t for its recruited or imported players. Lets see how good they would be with only maine kids. The young men from Houlton as well as every other school LEE played this season was robbed and its time for the MPA to step in and do something.
I am Andy Moog and I aproove the above message thank you
Recruiting goes on in every sport and is widespread throughout all the classes in Maine. Parents moving or renting places in Portland, Bangor and everywhere else so there kid can play for a better program or at a higher level. Some schools don’t offer sports like hockey or lacrosse and families move into those communities so they don’t have to pay tuition. The Portland Schools have been the worst for years. I think the MPA needs a transfer rule where a student would have to sit out a year before playing if they have already played for another program. Many states already employ this rule .
Wow ! Who knew that stuff like this going on in Maine ! Sheez.
Bouchard is one of the best freshman I have seen in awhile…….will be fun watching him for 3 more years….just hope he doesn’t transfer to Lee
Yup, I wondered the same thing ! A few years ago, wasn’t there a kid from Patten (Katahdin HS) that moved to Houlton to play BB?
He was from Sherman. Get your facts straight.
Thanks – close enuf I guess . Was it Houlton or somewhere else? How did he do?
PS – It was a question, not a statement.
coach, it’s okay. your WA running raiders are doing the same thing. a year or so from now you’ll be on here defending them.
Let’s start with a quality coach first.
Patten and Sherman is Katahdin HS
Houlton has lost a couple of the states best. Danny Dahl and Mark Socoby to Bangor. Hope to see the Bouchard kid stay home.
The MPA won’t do anything about it because Lee and all of these other joke import schools will play dumb and hide behind some lame story of “We were just giving a needy underprivileged student a quality education (in Lee, cough cough). How were we supposed to know he was 6 foot 7 with a killer inside game?”
I guess Houlton and the rest will either have to accept that this is the farce they will face each year or hire a scout to start recruiting kids from around the world to provide them with quality educations, if they are 6 foot 8 and can rebound like a monster of course.
These aren’t international paying students? That’s the impression I get from the Lee Academy ads.
I dont know for sure, But it’s probably like a college deal. “if you play for us, you can come here for free”
So, you’re saying that Lee Academy isn’t a quality education? I know from experience of going to Lee, then going to college that I got a much better education from Lee then other students got at other high schools in the state. But I guess everyone is just looking for an excuse to hate on the town of Lee lately…..
Good job Lee and coach Harris. Bring the gold back to the East.
Did you mean the Far East? By the way I think the Panda’s are the perfect mascot.
Well they may have won but itS a hollow victory when they cheated to win. The kid from isleboro admitted on the postgame on mpbn that the coach asked him to play.. CHEATERS
I knew I should have waited a bit longer before I went to bed.
I heard that too. It was funny. Too bad that the kids have to lie for the coach.
Well the bouchard kid might transfer to Lee he is waitin for the call from the Lee Coach
“I mean the Headmaster, yeah the Headmaster called me.” wink wink
The stall-ball game that the coach employed vs Penquis completely turned me off of the rest of the baseketball playoffs. I don’t think a shot clock is needed as this would cost too much to get clocks for schools, people to run them, etc.
What I do think is needed is coaches with the stones to actually have their kids play the game. If I want to watch kids stand around, I’ll go to the mall.
It is a sad day when the mpa acually allows the lee team to do what they do by cheating. The coaches additude at the pregame was terrible and his cockness about the recruiting. People from lee should be ashamed for this team because there is only 1 kid from lee that was born and raised there. If I had a child that went to that school and just warmed the bench for our dream team to play I would think about transferring them.
I would like to take the wild guess that you were rooting for Houlton, its a tough loss for them.. but there is no reason to bring down the Lee team. They played an awesome game and have nothing to be ashamed of. Its pathetic that those of you on here come to complain about a team that just won Eastern C title. I’d suggest taking a step back and realizing how immature you must be to even post such a thing on here for everyone to see.
At least they played Houlton, instead of wimping out like they did against Penquis.
wait who won in the game against penquis vs. lee… oh wait it was lee. Strategy wins no matter how boring it may seem to you, by far not wimping out.
I consider it wimping out when you hold the ball at half court for almost the duration of 2 overtimes because you know your team lacks the skill to score on a 2-3 defense. Lee was afraid to play the ball because they didn’t want Bess or Lyford to get it and cram it down Lees’ throat.
Or maybe it was that Penquis knew their defense wasn’t strong enough to play Lee’s players such as Boubacar Diallo and DJ Johnson, man on man. Again what it comes down to is who continued in the tournament, which was Lee… so no reason to dwell on the past.
You can slice and dice it all you want. At the end of the day, everyone knows who the better team was. It was Penquis. I’ve already wasted enough time dickering with you. I’m done with you. Go back to Lee.
Thats quite the travel for me to go back to Lee, considering I’m a ways from there. Just sticking up for an incredible team that you’re trying to tear down.
I was not rooting for houlton last night until the coach from lee came out and said what he said at the pre game. I am complaining about the Team that won the eastern maine class c title because I think that in my immature ways of thinking there should be a private school class and a public school class. So that it could be all fair. Also if a kid transfers there they should sit for a year so it would eliminate this. So i am sorry for my ways I thought it is a public form and a way to express your opinion
The vitriol being spewed in these comments is pathetic beyond words. You people who have done nothing but whine and accuse Lee Academy of cheating don’t know what you’re talking about. Lee Academy has NEVER recruited basketball players, soccer players, baseball players, badminton players, or anyone else. I don’t remember any complaints during the years when Houlton, Central, Jonesport, or others dominated the playoffs. Maybe if a team wins a title they should just not be allowed to field a team the following year so the other schools won’t get their feelings hurt. As for “stall ball”- if you don’t like it, I suggest you petition the Maine Principal Association to change the rules. I don’t recall other teams being kept from using the same tactic. Incidentally, I am not from Lee, never went to Lee Academy and, quite frankly, don’t care who wins the stupid tournament. I am simply sick of the ludicrous comments being made in the name of “sportsmanship”. Get over it people and move on. It’s basketball.
Didn’t Harris say last night how they’ve been catching flak because they recruit players? And didn’t he ask a player from another team last night if he wanted to play for Lee next year?
“stupid tournament” Your right…”pathetic”
The young man ( a senior this year ) from Islesboro stated in the post game that the coach — whoops head master called his father last year about coming to play for Lee this year. In the pregame the coach himself said they make no apologizes for recruiting players — referred to their team as the New York Yankees of Maine high school basketball. Maybe they need to try playing Deering or Hampden and level the playing field.
Time for the MPA to institute a year hold out on transfer students before this becomes more common place.
I am not from houlton but as a fan of high school sports and what it stands for LEE is a true disgrace. Every year they have different kids from all parts of the country and globe. If you think these kids aren’t recruited then you must also believe in the easter bunny and santa still. Also coach harris is an awful coach his teams have never won anything with local kids he needs recruited kids to win. There have been players who have admited coach harris asked them to play for them but thats not recruiting? Also every other school who has won titles in the area did it with local kids Lee can’t say tje same. I think the Lee IMPORTS would be a great name change don’t you? Or the lee Cheetahs?
Wait, Lee hasn’t won many other state championships in the past 10 or so years in other sports without international students? Why don’t you go take a look at the numerous banners on their gym wall, that will tell you different….
Because you obviously know nothing about Lee Academy, here’s a direct quote from the Lee Academy’s website: “Our boarders (students) over the last seven years have come from sixteen states, seven Asian countries, five Central American/Caribbean countries, ten European countries, Australia, Israel and Canada”.
So obviously they recruit students from outside of Maine. Houlton doesn’t recruit students outside of Maine. Jonesport doesn’t recruit outside of Maine. Central doesn’t recruit outside of Maine for students. Etc. Etc. Etc.
In regards to my ‘stall ball’ comment, as you should’ve been able to clearly read, I said it doesn’t require changing the rules to put in shot-clocks as this would be way too costly (schools would have to buy two shot clocks for the court, plus have some in waiting if one breaks; schools would have to hire and train people specifically for running these shot clocks and learning the requirements for when to reset it, etc.). I don’t want to install shot clocks. I want coaches with the (basket)balls to make their players actually PLAY BASKETBALL.
It’s fine to comment, but it’s better if you’re aware of what you’re talking about.
We never had to worry about teams like Jonesport recruiting. We knew they were local kids because they had names like Alley, Beal and Carver.
But a few of those players didn’t always want to play for JPB. You will be surprised on who changes schools next year…..
I think that all of the Jonesport-Beals players will change schools because there is a good chance that school is closing.
just like george said to jerry in an episode from seinfeld..”remember jerry if you believe it too be true, it’s not a lie.”
Congrats Coach Harris, you have had the top recruiting classes the last two years. Being a local product yourself, it is disappointing that you won’t stand up for the local kids. You sold out to the administration.Is winning that important. The Board of Directors should open their eyes to the character of their school administrators. I am graduate of LA, I can’t wait for another letter to beg for money to get the Championship rings. Where was this letter when the girls were winning 5 or so state championships, with local kids, or how about the baseball championships with local products. Coach I like many LA alumni, are very disappointed in you. Many others are not surprised you have forgotten your roots. The school should do the right thing and enter a prep school league.
Excellent points. I am not from Lee Academy, but I believe that the local people won’t continue to support the program. Local Maine people like to support local Maine kids.
Great game played by Lee, definitely deserved that win. To all Lee players just remember haters are going to hate, nothing you can do about it…play to your highest potential and just give them more of a reason to be jealous!
And don’t forget what awaits you if you don’t play well. A plane ticket to wherever you came from and a bill for tuition.
Sore loser?
I’m not sore at all. I’m very proud of Penquis. I consider it a win when our local boys have the talent and coaching to make an international team cower at half-court because they know they can’t win straight up.
I beg to differ. Penquis played quite the game but what it comes down to is who moved on in the tournament and that just so happened to be Lee. I think it’s about time that you stop trying to attack the Lee team and congratulate them on their win… Thats what a real individual would do.
So i guess it doesn’t matter how they moved on huh? Typical Lee Academy thought. Anything to win, even if it is dirty. There’s no honor at Lee.
How they moved on was by playing good d and getting good reads on offense. and funny you say a Lee Academy thought when I live like 3 hours from there. It’s called I know a good team when I watch one, and what makes me sick is when people come on here and try to put down the coaches and the players.
I don’t think most people are doubting that Lee has a good, even great team. I think that what is upsetting people is that it doesn’t seem quite fair that they are getting away with recruiting players from all over the world. It just seems strange that there is only 1 kid that was brought up in the area that would generally go to Lee Academy. They are going to have to have a different division for teams like this. It isn’t just Lee, it includes John Babst, Washington Academy and a few others. True Public schools just won’t be able to compete. By the way, many people also hate the stall ball strategy, made famous in Eastern Maine by Bob Cimbolek.
Ernie Clark: If by “intensity” and “strategy” you mean the school administrators in Lee working hard to bring in ringers from around the world…then I’m with your “Intensity, strategy carry Lee by Houlton” statement.
“Stall ball” is a strategy that should be admired if it is successfully employed; it can only be stalled if the opposing team chooses to stand and not play up on the ball.
I do not think it is respectable for Lee to recruit players for their high school team and compete in the current statewide high school basketball tournament. Perhaps the eastern teams should refuse to put them on their schedules. What will Lee have if they have no regular season games?
Stall ball is a entire game strategy, if you can’t compete. Or, it’s a strategy that is used to take the last shot of a quarter or half, etc. It’s not typically a strategy that is incorporated when the game has been played and you are in overtime at the tournament. Usually, you would do what has worked for you all season long: play your defense, and run your offense It was a controversial and bold move, I don’t think it sets well with the standards of high school basketball fans, but yet, winning does. It does show a couple of things, defensive weakness, and the coach doing what needs to be done in order to win. These kids want to win, the coach led them to a win, case closed.
There was a comment made by Tom Bird today that said, if Lee was so strong this year why did they win their games by only about 10 points. FYI their 16 wins were won by 19.125 per game. This is a strong team.
Hopefully the folks in Lee have no sour grapes after they get smoked by Dirigo in the state game
Congrats to the Lee Academy Pandas. We need to remember these are kids we are talking about. Not the NBA. I wouldn’t ever want to take anything away from a great group of kids. My only concern with the recruiting is its not real fair to the other schools they play in class C. They should be playing in class A if they can pick there players from all over the country. The small schools just can’t compete. The same goes in class D. For how many years did we see Hyde in the State championships? Just isn’t fair
So, Lee Academy does not have to actively recruit inorder to field an unfair team. They have a prep school, this prep school brings in players that would not normally have any reason to come to Eastern Maine. AND may I add that DJ Johnson’s AAU coach is an assistant on the Lee Prep team. This post a little scattered, however I am so angry that teams like Penquis and Houlton are punished because they continue to grow local talent. With all of this said, I will be cheering for Dirigo on Saturday. (congrats to Houlton for winning the EASTERN MAINE title game.)
We i am a taxpayer of and live in the Lee school district and even graduated from Lee Academy and i think Lee Academy is a disgrace and think they should be ashamed of themselves especially Randy Harris who needs to be knocked down a peg or two…. and Saturday i will be cheering for Dirigo… that being said its pretty sad that a Lee resident that i am has to feel this way but it it is what it is…. Lee Academy and Randy Harris can say all they want about not recruiting but they DO !!! How can they even think they won the Eastern Maine Finals fair? There was only one player than wasnt a transplant on the team which was Dustin Sawtelle who got to play… except if im right i thhink Blaine Guido(senior) got to play 37 seconds …. ok whats wrong with this picture??? Blaine is a senior who is a resident of Lee and has played 2 years of JV and 2 years of Varsity and has devoted his time for 4 years for this team and what thanks does this student get….NONE… he gets to play 37 seconds!! Really?? Apparently an exchange student can come right in and be a starter play every game the entire game and our own player who has devoted all his time to this team gets to sit on the bench and keep it warm for the exchange students to rest on between quarters!!! I almost fell out of my chair when the announcers annouced Blaine as a senior captain!! Give him this big title but yet he gets absolutely NO playing time!!! I truly feel bad for Blaine and think its a shame that Randy Harris has done this to this player but thats what he does best…!!!! When Lincoln was playing Houlton i was cheering Lincoln on hoping they would win so they could match up with Lee and watch Lincoln stomp all over Lee… i was cheering for Penquis to beat Lee as well even tho i dont like Penquis’s coach i still wanted them to beat Lee… it just shows how shallow Lee was in Penquis game stalling the ball the way they did in 2 overtimes…and watching DJ Johnson smirking over to Randy as he stands there holding the ball the entired two timeouts just shows the cockiness thiis team has!!! And then he got busted as he screwed up on his interview and reveiled that Lee had called him to play for Lee…so dont anyone believe the fact that they dont recruit to get that GOLD ball….. i truly feel bad that the other teams in class C has to put up with this and play this foreign EXCHANGE team to try and win states because this is the only way Lee can do it is by cheating and recruiting!! This school and coach should be ashamed of themselves and i am not proud to say that i attended this school… i feel exactly like all of you out there who complain about this school..