GUILFORD, Maine — Fast starts are nothing new for the Piscataquis Community High School boys basketball team.
The Pirates won several games in a row to open the 2013-14 campaign, only to fade during the second half of their schedule to finish the regular season at 10-8 before being ousted in the preliminary round of the Eastern Maine Class C tournament.
PCHS got off to a similar start this winter, with only an overtime loss to Central of Corinth marring an otherwise unblemished pre-Christmas record.
But this season the Pirates look to have more staying power near the top of the division, with a 59-43 victory over Class B Foxcroft Academy on Wednesday evening improving their record to 9-1.
“The biggest growth for these kids has been their maturity,” said Pirates’ coach Jamie Russell of a PCHS lineup that features four senior starters. “And not necessarily on the basketball court but in how they handle themselves, how they handle losing, how they handle winning, and their preparation for the next game.
“I think that was all missing before, even last year there were games that we weren’t ready to play, we weren’t prepared.”
Piscataquis needed to be ready for a blend of zone defenses from Foxcroft, and the Pirates’ level of preparation was evident in at least two statistical categories — they committed just eight turnovers and outrebounded the physically bigger Ponies 30-23.
“It’s hard to rebound out of a zone so we were just looking to crash the boards as hard as we could,” said PCHS senior forward Nate Burns, who scored a game-high 20 points and dished out five assists.
The Pirates scored four of their first five baskets in the game after grabbing offensive rebounds, but freshman Drew Dankert kept Foxcroft in contention through halftime by shooting 4-for-4 from beyond the 3-point arc during the second quarter.
His final long-range connection came from beyond the top of the key with 11 seconds left to give the Ponies a 30-28 edge, but when Burns replied with a deeper-than-deep 3-pointer of his own just before the buzzer, Piscataquis had regained the lead and the momentum.
Riley Richards opened the second half with a 3-pointer to give Foxcroft one final lead, but the Ponies managed just 10 more points in the game as the Pirates amped up their man-to man defense and limited Dankert (14 points) and leading Foxcroft scorer Hunter Smith (12 points) to one field goal apiece after intermission.
“I thought the biggest difference was shutting down Dankert in the second half,” said Russell. “We paid more attention to him after he showed a lot of poise for a freshman in the first half.”
Quick ball movement keyed by Burns also proved pivotal for the Pirates, particularly as it created openings beyond the arc for senior Tristan French, who made three 3-pointers in less than two minutes to stake Piscataquis to a 44-33 lead midway through the third quarter.
“I think I got a lot of good looks just because the other guys were playing so well,” said French, who finished with 13 points.
Foxcroft (3-5) got no closer than 10 the rest of the way, the final time at 53-43 with 3:36 left in the game after senior center Sean Cody (10 points, nine rebounds) went inside for a three-point play and freshman guard Nick Clawson converted a layup after a PCHS turnover.
But the Ponies didn’t score again, and Burns made 6-of-7 free throws during crunch time.
Senior forward Jeremy Bell added 11 points and eight rebounds for Piscataquis, while junior guard Ben Morrill chipped in with five points and seven rebounds while teaming with senior Mitchel Noyes to limit Smith to a 4-of-14 shooting night.
“The last two years have been a struggle,” said Russell. “When we beat Dexter earlier in the year it was the first time these seniors had beaten them, and I think this is the same thing with Foxcroft, so this is another part of getting us over the hump.
“I just told the kids, ‘We’re pretty good,’ and we are starting to feel pretty good about ourselves,” he added. “But there’s a lot of good teams out there.”
