The high-flying Cony boys offense from Augusta touched down in Bangor on Saturday night, and they put on a show at the rim.
The Rams proved to be the most prolific dunkers of the Bangor regional tournament so far, with three different players throwing down emphatic slams in a 63-51 quarterfinal win over Presque Isle.
“We just play our basketball. We get out in transition, these guys, they fly around,” Cony coach Isaiah Brathwaite said about that dunking ability after the victory. “That’s what we do in practices, we work on that. They seize the moment when they can.”
Senior forward Ben Hanke got the dunk party started in the first half. And he agreed that a dunk can help give a team momentum.
“It’s just energy for the bench, energy for the crowd,” Hanke said. “It brings a lot for the team.”
He also agreed that his slam helped Cony assert itself after Presque Isle played the No. 1 team in Class B North tight to start.
“It helped open up things for us, for sure,” Hanke said.
Senior guard Parker Morin got in on the dunking action too, throwing one down emphatically in transition during the second half.
“It’s awesome, you know, because it really gets the crowd and the bench into the game,” Morin said. “It helps them get the energy, and then we feed off that.”
And what goes through Morin’s mind when he has a chance at a dunk like that?
“I’m really just thinking about not traveling,” the senior said with a smile. “I want to make sure I get those two feet down and get up as high as I can.”
The other Ram to dunk on Saturday was freshman phenom Carter Brathwaite. He said the key to those highlight-reel moments are teammates getting rebounds and looking ahead.
“Our teammates just run the floor, and then we get it up to them for a dunk,” Brathwaite said.
And even though Isaiah Brathwaite is Carter Brathwaite’s father, the coach gave the nod to Morin when choosing the top dunk of the night.
“Probably Parker’s. Parker flew,” the coach said. “That was amazing.”
Morin led all scorers with 21 points in the game. Carter Brathwaite had 11 and Hanke had 10.
As formidable as the Cony attack was around the rim on Saturday night, the Presque Isle effect was equally impressive. The No. 8 seed held tough with top-ranked Cony, refusing to let the Rams pull away and turn the game into a blowout.
Kason Bua led the scoring for Presque Isle with 16 points, followed by Cruze Casavant with 11 and Nathan Tompkins with 10.
Moving forward, Morin said it will be key for Cony to play “we” basketball.
“Because we have a lot of talented guys on the team, but if we stick to ‘me’ basketball, we’re not going to get anywhere,” Morin said. “We have to pass the ball for the best shot.”
And the Cony players weren’t satisfied with the opening round win, either.
“This is not done,” Carter Brathwaite said. “This was a business trip. We’re not done yet.”