The Portland Expo can be a tough venue for shooters come tournament time. Whether it’s postseason jitters, the big crowd or the cavernous arena, players often struggle to find their range.
Just don’t tell that to Cape Elizabeth’s Conor Lawler. The junior forward made three first-half 3-pointers to stake the No. 4 Capers to a 10-point halftime lead that proved too much to overcome for No. 5 Yarmouth in Saturday’s Class B West boys basketball quarterfinal, won by Cape 66-58.
“Moloney had his best came of the year, hands down,” said teammate Alex Bowe, who finished with a game-high 21 points, 14 coming in the second half. “His first half was out of this world. Nobody else really had their rhythm going.”
Moloney got Cape on the board with an early 3 and the Capers (15-4) went up 9-0 before Johnny Murphy’s jumper finally broke a six-minute scoring drought for the Clippers (14-5) to begin the game. It sparked an 8-0 Yarmouth run to close the quarter and Cape led 9-8 after one.
Behind eight points from Moloney – a pair of 3s and a jump shot – Cape opened up a 23-13 lead with 3:47 left in the second quarter.
It was 32-22 in favor of the Capers entering halftime. Murphy, Yarmouth’s sharpshooter who finished with a team-high 20, was held to four points in the first half as he struggled with his shot.
Bowe, Cape’s top scorer, couldn’t put a finger on what it is about the Expo, but said it’s a difficult place to shoot.
“The last two years, I’ve had a lot of trouble here,” he said. “I’m starting to get used to it a little bit better, but there’s something about it. It’s tough.”
Murphy found his range in the third quarter, scoring 10 points, but Bowe countered with six and the Capers led 47-40 entering the fourth.
The final quarter turned into a free-throw shooting contest. Cape made 11 of 14, while Yarmouth made only 6 of 15.
“If they hit their free throws, it would have put a little more pressure on us,” said Cape coach Jim Ray.
Murphy cut Cape’s lead to five at 50-45 with a jump shot with 5:15 left, but Bowe answered right back with a hoop of his own. With 4:20 left, Yarmouth again got within five, but sophomore Cam Brown scored his only two points at a critical time for Cape. After Moloney scored inside off a pass from Conor Lawler and Andrew Dickey converted a three-point play, Cape led 59-48 with 3:03 to play.
The Capers made seven of eight foul shots in the final two minutes to secure the win. Johnny Messina made all four of his free throws during that stretch and was eight of eight from the line in the game. He finished with 10 points. Dickey added 11.
Moloney finished with 16, 11 coming in the first half.
“He had a nice game,” Ray said of Moloney. “The last couple practices he was shooting the ball well. Hopefully he’ll continue to do that. He can be a little streaky, but he’s on a hot streak. When he’s got that rhythm, he can be tough. It’s nice to have that person on the other side of the court, because you know Bowe’s going to draw attention.”
Luke Pierce had 13 points off the bench for Yarmouth. Michael McCormack, also off the bench, added 11.
Cape advances to face No. 1 Greely in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. The Rangers (17-2) moved on with a 68-35 thrashing of No. 8 Gray-New Gloucester. Cape and Greely split during the regular season, as both teams won on the road. The Capers won 72-64 in Cumberland in mid-January, while the Rangers won the regular-season finale in Cape Elizabeth, 59-46.
The Rangers will have a size advantage over the Capers, especially now that Cape is without 6’7″ senior Ben Fox, who started at center for most of the season. Ray said Fox is no longer with the team, declining to give specifics.
Ray said a total team effort will be needed if the Capers are to upset Greely and return to the regional finals, which they won a year ago over Freeport, 57-50, before falling in the Class B state championship to Maranacook, 56-46.
“The key for us is for our role players to step up and give some support,” Ray said.
While the Capers were in control most of the way against Yarmouth – a team they split with during the season – Bowe said there is plenty of room for improvement.
“We knocked down enough free throws,” Bowe said. “We could have knocked down more. They missed a bunch, too, at the end. They had open shots. We gave them chances. We’re going to have to fix that.”
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