Cape Elizabeth 46
Maranacook 56
While they didn’t come home from Bangor with the Gold Ball, the Cape Elizabeth Capers still can call themselves champions this season.
On Friday night, the Class B Western regional champion Capers (19-3) lost the Class B state title game to Maranacook, 56-46. The win was the second state title in three years for Maranacook and capped off an undefeated 22-0 season for the Black Bears.
The game was a battle from the outset as the Capers, and the hundreds of Cape fans that made the trip north to the Bangor Auditorium, came into the game looking to extend Cape’s 16 game winning streak.
Cape kept the game close through three quarters, trailing 15-10 after the first and 27-25 at the half. The Capers actually grabbed the lead about halfway through the third quarter, but the Black Bears, led by talented senior guard Ryan Martin, pulled away thanks to some timely three-point shooting, outscoring the Capers 16-8 in the final quarter to take the game and the state title.
After the game, Cape coach Jim Ray said he thought his team had a solid defensive game, but wished the Capers had played a little better on the offensive side of the floor. “I thought our guys did a heck of a job defensively,” Ray said. “They really did. But we’ve got to play both sides of the basketball. I don’t think we played as intelligent of a game as we needed to on our offensive end. We didn’t take the ball to the basket the way we wanted to.”
While Martin led all scorers in the game with 26 points, including four three-pointers, the Capers got solid offensive performances from junior forward Alex Bowe, who had 15 points and sophomore Andrew Dickey, who pitched in with 13 points. Senior forward Shaine Burks added eight for the Capers and senior center Ian Place added six for Cape.
The game started out as a back and forth affair, as both teams traded points in the early going. Place did give the Cape fans something to cheer about early on as he came up with a huge block with about 3:40 left in the first, Dickey snapped up the loose ball and went coast-to-coast to pull Cape within one at 7-6.
Cape kept the scoring close throughout the first, but as he did all game, Martin came up with the big shot when he needed to. Late in the first, despite in-your-face defense from Cape’s Tommy Ray, Martin knocked down two quick threes to give the Black Bears a 15-8 lead.
Coach Ray had nothing but praise for Martin after the game. “He can drill those open shots,” he said.
Cape cut the lead to five by the end of the first, but fell behind quickly and trailed 25-16 with just under four minutes to go in the first half.
But the Capers weren’t going to give in.
First, Place hit a running layup to cut the lead to 25-18. Then, after a Cape defensive stop, Burks drove the baseline and he was fouled with 3:19 left. Burks nailed the two free throws, making the score 25-20.
Cape then came up with a huge steal thanks to junior forward Conor Lawler with three minutes to go. Trailing by five, the Capers showed some patience as they came down the floor, holding the ball for almost a minute until Burks hit an open jumper, and with 2:05 left, Cape had cut the Black Bears’ lead to 25-22.
But, once again, Martin stepped in and stopped the bleeding for Maranacook. With 1:50 left, he hit two free throws to but the Bears back up by five, 27-22. However, Dickey, the MVP of the Western regionals, stepped up for Cape, burying a three with 1:33 left, making the score 27-25, which is where it stayed until halftime.
After Martin and Bowe exchanged baskets at the start of the third quarter to keep the Black Bear lead at two, Cape began to make their move.
With 6:44 left in the third, Dickey was fouled by Maranacook’s Conrad Gilman. Dickey hit the two free throws, and the score was tied at 29. The Bears’ Will Bardagilo hit a three to put Maranacook back up 32-39, but Bowe answered with a jumper and then a free throw to even the score at 32. However, Cape took its first lead of the game after Bowe missed his second free throw and Dickey snapped up the rebound and hit to put Cape up 34-32 with about 4:28 left in the third.
Bowe then extended the Capers lead to four, nailing a short jumper to put Cape up 36-32 with just over four minutes left in the third.
But then Cape started to have trouble getting shots to fall and Maranacook started to get hot from the floor, and Maranacook retook the lead with just over 1:30 left in the quarter.
Ray said that a couple of Caper defensive breakdowns gave the Black Bears some open looks, and Maranacook made those chances count. “We’re up four, and we made some defensive mistakes, and they capitalized on it,” Ray said. “There were just a couple of tough breaks.”
The Capers did manage to tie the game at 40 early on in the fourth, but they weren’t able to retake the lead, and Maranacook went home with the state title.
After the game , Ray said that despite the final score, he was proud of the way his team handled itself during the tournament and throughout the season. “How kids respond mentally in the tournament is a huge thing, and I think our kids handled that very well,” Ray said. “It’s fun, the kids at school, the fan support, all of the excitement that goes into it, I think our kids enjoyed it. They kept it in persepective and handled very well.”
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