The Jonesport-Beals boys basketball team – all six players – brought plenty of determination to the Cross Insurance Center on Monday night.
But the undefeated and top-ranked Machias Bulldogs had too much experience, size, depth and balance for the undermanned Royals and pulled away to an 85-40 victory in their Class D North quarterfinal battle of Down East rivals.
Junior forward Kashman Feeney scored 20 points to lead four Machias players in double figures, and a team returning virtually intact from its 2020 regional championship squad dominated the rebounding action while gradually wearing down the eighth-seeded Royals for the third time this winter.
“We played OK. We can play better, but for the first game of the tournament I was happy,” Machias coach Jim Getchell said. “I think with every game you play you get better.”
Machias (16-0) advances to face No. 4 Wisdom of Saint Agatha in Thursday night’s semifinals. Wisdom edged No. 4 Bangor Christian 46-44 in Monday evening’s first quarterfinal.
Jonesport-Beals, which concluded the game with just five players after sophomore forward Brevan Kenney fouled out late in the third quarter, ended its season with a 9-11 record.
“They step up big when they need to,” junior forward Shane Feeney said of the Royals. “They’ve only got six guys but they’ve been playing really well.”
Shane Feeney added 18 points for Machias, while senior center Kyle Anderson scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, junior guard Ethan Foss chipped in 11 points and senior guard Jayden Rhodes scored nine.
“We have a great combination of inside and outside play, it really offsets each other well,” Getchell said.
Junior forward Damon Beal paced Jonesport-Beals with game-high totals of 23 points and 12 rebounds.
Shane Feeney made his first six shots from the field and scored 15 first-half points as Machias moved out to a 46-23 lead at intermission.
Kashman Feeney added 13 early points to the Bulldogs’ attack as Machias capitalized on 10 Jonesport-Beals turnovers and also controlled the backboards early in the contest, outrebounding the Royals 16-8 before the break.
Machias scored the game’s first nine points, including four by Feeney, a pull-up jumper by Kashman Feeney after a Jonesport-Beals turnover and a 3-pointer by Rhodes.
Damon Beal finally got Jonesport-Beals on the board off a Garrett Libby inbounding pass with 4:47 left in the first quarter, but Machias built its lead to 26-14 by the end of the opening period.
The Bulldogs then scored the first seven points of the second quarter as part of a 13-2 run that gave Machias a 39-16 advantage on a 3-pointer by Kashman Feeney with just over three minutes left in the half.
“We had our guys step up when they needed to with energy,” Shane Feeney said. “I thought we played pretty well.”
