Wednesday’s Class B North clash between the Cony Rams and Ellsworth Eagles was among the best games seen in the Bangor basketball tournament so far this year, especially in the second half as the teams traded basket after basket.
But it was a shot at the very end of the first half that may have made the overall difference in the game. And it led to an official replay review at the Cross Center in Bangor
With his Cony team down 31-30 in the closing seconds of the half, senior Parker Morin knocked down a 3-pointer right as the horn sounded. Officials ruled the shot good in real time, but with the addition of replay technology at the tournament starting last year, they also went to the monitors to check if Morin got the shot off within regulation.
Video taken courtside by the Bangor Daily News appears to show the ball just barely leaving Morin’s hand in time. But it couldn’t have been any closer.
After official review by the referees, the call on the court of a made basket was upheld and Cony headed into halftime with a 33-30 lead.
The Rams went on to win by just two points, 66-64, showing how pivotal that halftime buzzer-beater ended up being.
“I thought I got it off, they called it good,” Morin said about that buzzer-beater. “And then they were worrying me a little bit, taking a long time to look at it. But they came back with positive news.”
The Cony senior explained that the initial plan on that play to try to get the ball to freshman phenom Carter Brathwaite.
“We were trying to get it to Carter, and they kind of locked him in,” Morin said. So I was like, ‘I gotta shoot this.’”
That make ended up being a huge shot for the No. 1 seed Rams as they held off the No. 5 Eagles. And it helped Morin lead all scorers on Wednesday with 26 points.
The shot that led to the replay review happened in front of the Ellsworth bench, and though Eagles head coach Matt Mattson didn’t see Morin release the ball in real-time, he thought from what he did see that it was in time.
“I thought it went in, from where I was,” Mattson said after the close loss for his team. “I asked one of the refs, and she said it was super close.”
Mattson’s understanding is that a call on the court would only be overturned if the referees see something that changes their mind completely. He wasn’t aware that replay was even an option until earlier in the day before the game, and he’s fully on board with its use.
“I think it’s fantastic, because they’ve got to get it right,” Mattson said. “If we have the technology, we’ve got to use it.”
And while he downplayed Morin’s shot during the halftime break and told his team that it “made no difference what so-ever,” it was clear after the game that it did play a huge role in the outcome.
“I guess that would be the game changer, right there,” Mattson said.