It’s only December, and Maine high school basketball may have already witnessed the best game of the year.
There’s certainly time for other teams to add to the list of this season’s top contests, but Fort Fairfield and Madawaska played an instant classic on Monday night that will be tough to out-do.
The two Aroostook County teams entered Monday’s game with unbeaten records and strong positioning among the upper echelon of Class D North a few weeks into the season. Only one team could emerge with a perfect record intact.
And against all odds, that ended up being the Fort Fairfield Tigers.
The scrappy bunch from Fort Fairfield went into the fourth quarter trailing the talented Madawaska Owls by eight points. But with relentless defensive pressure and a last-second miracle, the Tigers shocked the visiting Owls and delighted their home fans in the process.
Down by one point with 2.3 seconds left in the game, Fort Fairfield had the ball but needed to go the entire length of the court off an inbounds pass. Senior Graedon King took the ball on the far baseline and heaved a two-handed overhead Hail Mary pass that sailed most of the court and through the outstretched arms of two Madawaska defenders.
The ball careened right to Fort Fairfield’s Ethan Walsh near the basket, who immediately put it up and in for an improbable 47-46 win that had seemed well out of reach for the Tigers earlier in the fourth quarter.
Madawaska jumped out to an early lead Monday night and held on to it right until the very end. Powered by freshman phenom Quinn Pelletier, his brother senior Brayden Pelletier and senior guard Isaac Beaulieu, the Owls took a 36-28 lead into the fourth.
But Fort Fairfield kept punching back with a swarming trap defense, piling up steals and forcing turnovers to claw its way back into the game. After a pair of missed free-throws and a Madawaska foul on the ensuing rebound, the Tigers had the ball back with those 2.3 seconds left to play.
King, whose defensive effort had been key in those final minutes, provided the pivotal full-court pass. Walsh then found the ball in traffic and made the clutch finish with no time to spare.
We’re only a few weeks into the Maine high school basketball season, but there may not be a better ending the rest of the way.
Fort Fairfield moved to 6-0 on the season after Monday night’s triumph, and Madawaska is now 5-1.
The Tigers and the Owls have made close games a tradition, with Fort Fairfield dealing Madawaska its only loss of the regular season last year in a double overtime thriller. Madawaska went on to make a deep run in the playoffs, earning a place in last year’s Class C North regional title game.
Video courtesy of WHOU.live, which provides live broadcast coverage of games and other community events for its subscribers.