BANGOR, Maine — During the regular season, Schenck and Lee Academy played a pair of close, hard-fought games. So when the two teams found themselves pitted against each other Tuesday afternoon in a Class C North quarterfinal, both head coaches expected another spectacular show in what has become a bit of a rivalry.
Tuesday’s game did not disappoint, as No. 5 Schenck (16-3) and No. 4 Lee Academy (15-5) battled to a 46-46 stalemate at the end of regulation before the Wolverines were able to pull off a thrilling 60-59 overtime victory. They advanced to a Friday night semifinal against No. 1 George Stevens Academy, a 73-28 winner over No. 8 Fort Kent.
Schenck junior Christopher King was fouled as he attempted a slashing shot to the basket as the buzzer sounded. King went to the free throw line with his club down 59-58 and calmly sank a pair of free throws with no time left to give the Wolverines the dramatic victory.
“What’s going through your mind is you’re thinking you are going to miss it,” King said. “It’s a big thing. You have to think like you are in your hometown and it’s just you and the basket. You don’t listen to the crowd. You just keep your head down then put it in.”
King finished with 18 points, five rebounds and a steal, while junior Justin Thompson poured in 26 points and hauled in 20 rebounds.
Coach Darrick Thompson said he expected Lee Academy to come out with a triangle-and-two zone defense, with the notion of forcing the Wolverines out of their offensive set.
“I am not changing what we do,” coach Thompson said. “We just needed to clean up what we did and did enough to get by. Offensive rebounds killed us, but we persevered.”
Lee junior Nathan Gilman tied the game at 46-46 with 51 seconds left in regulation when he sank a pair of free throws. The Pandas had a chance to ice the game with two seconds remaining in regulation, but both free throws were off the mark.
Lee junior Howie Lin led his team with 20 points, three rebounds and three steals. Junior Mykolas Radinovas chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and five blocks, while Gilman finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
Schenck was 10-of-21 from the foul line (48 percent), while Lee made 9 of 12 free throws (75 percent). Lee committed 12 turnovers, compared to 15 for the Wolverines. Both teams were below their season averages, as the Pandas averaged 68 points during the regular season, while Schenck averaged 65.
The Wolverines led for much of the game, but were never able to put Lee away. Schenck had a 25-19 lead at the half, but the Pandas slowly chipped away, trailing 38-36 at the end of the third quarter.
In overtime, the Pandas took the lead for the first time since the first quarter as Lin drained a 3-pointer for a 51-48 lead with 3:30 to play. King and Thompson drained back-to-back treys as the Wolverines regained the lead 55-53 with 2:00 to go.
But once again, the Pandas rallied as George Kotsiura hit a 3-pointer with 1:03 to go, giving Lee Academy a 56-55 edge. King knotted the game at 56-56 as he made one of three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. He then converted a layup off a nifty feed from Justin Thompson with 40 seconds to go.
Lin once again put the Pandas back up, 59-58, with 31 seconds to play as he scored on a layup and subsequent foul shot.