BANGOR, Maine — A thrilling fourth quarter rally carried the No. 4 Old Town boys to a 59-57 overtime victory over No. 5 Mt. View of Thorndike Saturday in a Class B North quarterfinal.
Old Town advances to the semifinals, 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, at the Cross Insurance center where they will face No. 1 Ellsworth (19-0 overall).
The Coyotes (14-6 overall) had three players in double figures, as Gabe Gifford netted 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Braydon Brown and Carson Ellis both had 13 points, while Emmitt Byther chipped in nine, Isaac Hayes had five, and Alex Fernandes added three.
For Mt. View (14-6 overall), Declan Knowlton tossed in a game-high 19 points, while Draedyn Furrow added 14 and Noah Hurd had 13. Wyatt Evensen chipped in six points, while Ben Osborne had three and Tyler Russell added two.
Mt. View led for much of the contest, using an aggressive, pressing defense to force multiple turnovers which lead to transition baskets.
“We played Mt. View in the preseason, so I had a good feeling for what they wanted to do,” Old Town coach Garrett Libby said. “I knew coach [Jeremy] von Oesen would have them ready. Those boys have always worked hard for him. I knew we had to match Mt. View’s intensity.”
Old Town tied the game at 50-50 with 1:32 to play in regulation as Carson Ellis scored on an in-bounds play. Neither squad was able to score before the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra four-minute period, neither team led by more than a single possession. After Mt. View took a 57-54 lead with 49 seconds to go on a pair of Osborne free throws, Gifford connected on a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to even the game at 57-57.
Byther iced the game as he scored from the low post with just three seconds left in overtime for the decisive 59-57 score. A last ditch attempt by Mt. View was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
