BANGOR, Maine — With an Eastern Maine championship on the line, Medomak Valley sophomore Cameron Allaire knew where the ball was going.
Winslow senior Justin Martin had been a force from the perimeter and in the lane, and with the lanky 6-foot-6 Black Raiders’ senior charging down the Cross Insurance Center hardwood with a full head of steam, Allaire was the last line of defense between the Panthers and their second regional championship in three seasons.
Allaire managed to get a hand on Martin’s last-ditch 3-point attempt, capping a fourth-quarter surge that propelled top-ranked Medomak to a thrilling 51-48 win over No. 2 Winslow in a scintillating Class B final that lived up to its billing.
The teams came in having split their two meetings, with Winslow winning during the regular season and Medomak in the KVAC championship game, and this one came down to defense, as coach Nick DePatsy’s Panthers held the Black Raiders without a field goal over the game’s final five and a half minutes.
“I think we knew we got down by a couple possessions, we knew we had to extend the floor and make some things happen,” said DePatsy, whose 19-2 team will take on Western Maine champion Cape Elizabeth in next Friday’s state championship game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
Winslow finished the season 18-3.
Throughout the game, the Panthers had a tough time stopping Martin, who poured in a game-high 31 points, and his perimeter shot from the top of the key a minute into the fourth gave the Black Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 41-35.
But Darlings/BDN Most Valuable Player Allaire and his teammates did not panic, holding Winslow to one field goal the rest of the game while steadily chipping away before a foul-line jumper by Allaire gave the Panthers a 47-46 lead with just over a minute to play.
“It just came down to crunch time and we had different pieces of the puzzle step up,” DePatsy said.
Those pieces included Allaire, Micah Williamson and Zach Starr, who were vital on both ends of the court after Winslow put the clamps on Medomak’s Nicholas DePatsy, the coach’s son.
“Nick’s one of the high scorers in the league and they were focused on him,” said Allaire, who scored half of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.
But it was Allaire’s focus on Winslow’s top scorer that ultimately sealed the deal.
“He shot from like 8 feet behind the 3-point line and I jumped up and tipped it and that was it,” Allaire said.
Williamson led the way with 18 points for Medomak, including 10 in the second quarter when Winslow started putting the clamps on DePatsy, who scored nine of his 16 points in the first quarter.
After Allaire’s jumper had given Medomak the lead, Starr scored on a press-breaking layup to put the Panthers up three with 33 seconds left.
Winslow was able to get within one on two Colby Robertson foul shots, but a free throw apiece from Allaire and Williamson restored Medomak’s lead to three before Allaire rose up defensively.
Winslow coach Jared Browne said his team had the setup it wanted on the final play, as Martin was able to get open and get down the court.
“We got the shot we wanted, with the guy with the ball that we wanted,” Browne said. “Sometimes things don’t bounce a certain way.”
The Panthers even thought about fouling Martin in the backcourt so he couldn’t have a shot at a tying 3-pointer.
“We were trying to deny him the ball, trying to get a foul on the floor to put him on the line because we knew we could shoot the 3,” coach DePatsy said. “We put Cameron on him and fortunately he came up with a huge block.”
Neither team was able to establish an advantage in the first half, with the biggest lead being an early 7-3 edge for the Panthers, who led by three at halftime.
