The defending state champion Orono High School Red Riots will face rival Old Town in the Class B North schoolboy championship on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. after the fourth-seeded Red Riots turned in an exceptional defensive performance to beat top seed Ellsworth at the Cross Insurance Center 53-38 on Wednesday afternoon.
Orono is now 17-3 and has won nine in a row while Ellsworth finished at 16-4 and had its six-game winning streak snapped.
The Red Riots limited the Eagles to a 27.7 percent shooting percentage (13-for-47) including a 24 percent showing from beyond the 3-point arc (6-for-25).
They also held senior guard and Big East Player of the Year and scoring leader Chance Mercier to just eight points. He averaged 23.4 points per game during the regular season.
“Our defensive intensity was crazy tonight. It was perfect,” said Orono senior guard Ben Francis. “I think Will (brother Will Francis) probably held Chance way under his average which is impossible on a normal night. Props to Will.”
“The tone was set on the defensive end,” said Orono coach Ed Kohtala. “We limited them. They are such a good transition team that if you give them a few easy ones, they’re off and running.”
Kohtala called Mercier a “great player and one of the best players in the state” and said in addition to Will Francis, his other four players on the court also had eyes on Mercier.
“We made him work for his shots. One of the things I really admire about him is he takes on a tough defensive assignment on the other end. He had Pierce Walston for much of the game so he’s chasing him and trying to exert himself on offense. It’s a heavy load to carry,” said Kohtala. “Tonight, some of those shots that typically drop for him didn’t, for our good fortune.”
Will Francis said he tried to stay on his feet when he guarded Mercier and not get airborne on his pump fakes and they packed the box at the elbows “so if he drove, I got help. It was a team effort.”
“Offensively, we couldn’t generate anything,” said Ellsworth coach Peter Austin. “I credit Orono’s defense. They did a nice job on us today.”
Orono senior guard Walston was the league’s second-leading scorer (17.4 ppg) and Mercier held him to just one basket.
But the Eagles were in foul trouble throughout the game and Walston finished with a game-high 16 points because he sank 14 free throws in 18 attempts.
Orono outscored Ellsworth 25-6 from the free throw line, going 25-for-37 compared to Ellsworth’s 6-for-13.
Ellsworth was forced to foul in the late stages of the game to try to climb back into it.
Orono didn’t shoot well from the floor either, shooting 33 percent (12-for-36) including a 26.7 percent showing from long distance.
Walston had nine rebounds, five steals and three assists to go with his 16 points. Junior forward Will Francis had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals and sophomore guard Bergen Soderberg had 11 points and three rebounds. Ben Francis finished with seven points and six rebounds.
Mercier had six rebounds and three steals to go with his eight points for the Eagles. Junior guard Kyle Kenny and junior forward Brayden King had six points apiece. King had six rebounds and three steals and Kenny had four rebounds. Sophomore forward Dawson Curtis had five points and senior guard Miles Palmer and senior forward Kaleb Conners had four each. Palmer also had seven rebounds.
Orono never trailed, rattling off an 8-1 run to start the game.
Ellsworth got within three at 16-13 late in the first half and it appeared the deficit was going to be five at the half but Orono’s Mason Kenney hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to expand the lead to 23-15.
Orono expanded its lead to 11 in the third period thanks to a Bergen Soderberg 3-pointer and a Noah Schaff free throw to close out the quarter.
The Eagles pulled within seven early in the fourth quarter but the Red Riots answered with a 12-5 run to sew up the win with 10 of the points coming from the free throw line.