Seahawks collapse against Cougars
ABOVE: Andrew Hallinan drives to the basket against Dirigo Thursday night at the Augusta Civic Center. MIDDLE: Not backing down, Dirigo's Hunter Ross jumps on John Hepburn's back after Hepburn faked a shot. A foul was called on the play. BOTTOM: Anthony DiMauro works hard to get a shot. KEVIN BURNHAM/Boothbay Register
ABOVE: Andrew Hallinan drives to the basket against Dirigo Thursday night at the Augusta Civic Center. MIDDLE: Not backing down, Dirigo's Hunter Ross jumps on John Hepburn's back after Hepburn faked a shot. A foul was called on the play. BOTTOM: Anthony DiMauro works hard to get a shot. KEVIN BURNHAM/Boothbay Register
The Dirigo Cougars avenged their only loss of the season with a stunning 64-52 come from behind win over the Seahawks on Thursday night in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game.
Things couldn't have looked any better for the Seahawks after one period as they were red hot and firing on all cylinders while jumping out to a 31-15 lead.
Just like someone flipped a switch or maybe ghosts of tournament appearances past drifted down from the rafters of the Augusta Civic Center to quickly derail the Boothbay offense. The Seahawk momentum waned as Dirigo scored the first seven points of the second period while Boothbay was held off the board for almost two minutes. Going on to score just twelve points in the second period, the Seahawks still maintained a somewhat comfortable 17-point lead at the break, 43-26.
As the third quarter started, Dirigo turned up the defensive intensity, starting with full court pressure. That didn't create a lot of havoc but it took the rhythm out of the halfcourt game, as the Seahawks were shaky in their ball movement and turned the ball over several times due to pokes and prods from the Cougars. Mishandling passes and getting beat to every loose ball, the Seahawks saw their lead evaporate as Dirigo scored the first 13 points of the period.
Fumbled fast break opportunities and continually losing rebounds on both boards led to just a four-point quarter. Senior point guard, Anthony DiMauro (20 points) accounted for the only two hoops with the first one coming over four minutes into the period.
The six-point lead Boothbay took into the final period disappeared for good when Travis Frost connected on three-pointer for the Cougars with 4:50 left. The 18-1 run for Dirigo ended with an eleven-point lead as Boothbay was held to five point in the period as they were outscored 38-9 in the second half.
Despite this tough loss, the Seahawks season is not over. They need to use this as a learning tool as they prepare to for the Western Maine quarterfinals where they will face Wiscasset on Monday at 8:30 p.m. in the Augusta Civic Center.
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