OLD TOWN, Maine — The Mount Desert Island boys basketball team might be a more confident lot as its new season begins.
But the process that enabled the youthful Trojans to surge from the No. 12 seed in the final standings to a berth in the regional semifinals last winter remains largely the same as they pursue greater heights in Class B North during the 2015-16 campaign.
“I don’t see much of a difference in our approach, it’s very similar to last year,” said MDI coach Justin Norwood after the Trojans fought off Old Town 72-58 at MacKenzie Gymnasium on Saturday night. “We’re just a year older and a little more experienced because we’re still pretty young.
“But once they got that taste of how it felt to win they started to buy into what we’re doing, and now there’s an obvious boost in confidence after the way last season ended and then having a good spring and winning a tournament or two. They’re starting to understand what it takes to win and that’s huge.”
An MDI team that started four juniors and a sophomore needed all that understanding to win its opener, particularly against an Old Town team that overcame a double-technical foul that resulted in a seven-point second-half deficit to outscore the Trojans 10-2 and regain a 46-45 lead early in the fourth quarter.
A timeout with 6:38 left seemed to settle MDI, which responded with a game-securing 15-2 run good for a 60-48 lead with 2:16 remaining.
Junior forward Russell Kropff started the decisive surge with a follow-up basket and two free throws, and MDI went on to make 18 of 22 free throws during the final period.
“I think we used a lot of energy to get back in the game, and then they made some shots,” said Old Town coach Brian McDormand. “We had a couple of breakdowns and they made us pay.
“It’s hard to look down their bench and see which guy to foul because they’re all pretty good foul shooters.”
Kropff, who hit 9 of 10 from the line while scoring 11 fourth-quarter points, finished with a game-high 23 points, including a 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key with four seconds left in the second quarter to give the Trojans a 31-27 halftime edge.
“He’s a player,” said McDormand of the 6-foot-4-inch Kropff. “He’s lanky, he’s aggressive. He made that big three at the end of the half and that’s a shot we have to give him but he nailed it, and then with his free throws he was deadly.”
Kropff also grabbed nine rebounds as MDI outboarded Old Town 36-19 and was one of seven Trojans to score at least six points.
Junior forward Riley Swanson added 14 points — including three of MDI’s seven 3-pointers — and seven rebounds, while Andrew Phelps (nine points), Graham Good (eight points, seven rebounds), and Gus Reeves, Aaron Snurkowski and Drew Rich (six points each) also were offensive contributors.
Senior forward Andre Miller paced Old Town with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Kaleb Gifford added 12 points and point guard Drew Coulombe had 10 assists.
MDI connected on 23 of 31 free throws for the game compared to 8 of 13 for Old Town.
