BANGOR, Maine — Old Town carved up Caribou with its own double-edged sword on Friday night.
Senior forward Adam Richardson and senior guard Eric Hoogterp combined for 49 points on 20-for-30 shooting, sparking the defending state champion Coyotes to a 64-55 Eastern Maine Class B boys basketball victory at the Cross Insurance Center.
“We’re lucky to have two players like that,” said Old Town coach Brian McDormand, whose team improved to 7-0 in two seasons at the building. “They work on it, they feel for each other and it’s been successful for us the last two years.”
McDormand’s second-seeded Old Town team (18-1), which improved to 7-0 in two seasons in the building, advanced to Wednesday’s 7:05 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s Winslow-Oceanside contest.
Seventh-seeded Caribou wound up 13-7.
Coach Chris Casavant’s Vikings did not have an answer for Hoogterp and Richardson, who cleverly played off of each other to score numerous close-range baskets.
Richardson, finished with 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting and four rebounds, while Hoogterp, the Darlings/BDN Player of the Game, posted 24 points, going 10-for-14 from the floor, and provided five rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.
Old Town also effectively employed a box-and-one defense to slow down Caribou senior guard Dayne Savage. He finished with six points and was ejected after a hard foul late in the fourth quarter.
Junior Kaleb Gifford shouldered most of the load guarding Dayne Savage and his younger brother Donovan.
“He’s just a good all-around player. He understands his role. He gets the assignment with a smaller guard,” McDormand said of Gifford, who was backed up by Tyler Gifford and Hoogterp.
“We have good players and we know our matchups and what we need to do,” he added. “Last year, we did it every game down here.”
Junior Donovan Savage poured in 18 of his team-best 24 points in the second half and Colby Holdsworth contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Ricky Sheldon added eight points and four rebounds.
Old Town led by as many as 15 points in the second half, but a resilient Caribou ballclub fought to the end.
The Coyotes led 28-20 at halftime after an efficient first half during which they shot nearly 50 percent (13-for-27). Richardson scored 10 of his 12 first-half points in the first quarter and Hoogterp had 10 in the half.
Caribou worked the ball patiently, got the ball into the paint and got to the foul line (8-for-11) to stay close.
Richardson and Hoogterp spearheaded an early 10-2 surge that staked Old Town to a nine-point lead. Hoogterp sank two foul shots, then fed Richardson for close-range hoops only 19 seconds apart.
Donovan Savage countered with a 17-footer, but Hoogterp and Richardson alternated baskets off each other’s assists to put the Coyotes in front 14-5 with 1:43 left in the first quarter.