AUGUSTA — If it wasn’t Eric Theriault nailing a 3-pointer, it was his brother Brandon driving to the basket for two. Or maybe it was Jared Waite working in the low post for a layup, or any of the Schenck Wolverines hustling on defense.
Schenck had too much of everything for the Richmond boys’ basketball team to handle Saturday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center. The Wolverines took a 65-43 win and the Class D state championship.
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It’s the first Gold Ball for Schenck (21-1) since it won the Class C crown in 1994. Playing in its fourth championship game in five years, Richmond ended the season at 19-2.
“We’ve played real good defense all year. We haven’t given up 65 points,” Richmond Coach Phil Houdlette said. “I think the most points we’ve given up all year is 51 (in the Bobcats’ only other loss, to Valley).
“That’s a credit to (Schenck). I thought we worked hard, they were just a better team.”
Schenck scored the first 11 points and never trailed. Eric Theriault led the Wolverines with 20 points and tied a Class D championship game record with five 3-pointers. Three of them came in the first quarter, when Schenck opened a 21-13 lead.
Theriault said he knew he had a chance at the record when he shot and missed a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.
“Sadly, yes. I wanted to beat it, but …,” Theriault said.
Richmond’s plan was to try to keep Brandon Theriault from driving to the basket. If the Bobcats could do that, Houdlette felt they could keep Eric Theriault from getting open 3-point shots. But Brandon’s quickness enabled him to get by the first defender, and when the Bobcats tried to help, Eric was left wide open.
“Basically, that’s what we did all season. It worked then, and it works now,” said Eric Theriault.
“I thought they were real physical, quick, and obviously shot the ball very well. If we came out and defended (Eric), (Brandon) would go by. They really didn’t have a weakness that I saw,” Houdlette said.
“We did not want to allow Brandon Theriault to penetrate. We did not want to allow his brother (Eric) to shoot wide open 3s either. But you start getting down, then it becomes, should I trap? Should I try and get the basketball back? And things break down a little bit. We struggled offensively.”
The Bobcats’ offensive struggles were in large part the result of Schenck’s physical defense, which forced 19 turnovers. Richmond’s 6-foot-4 center, Bruce Carver, had 12 points but was held scoreless in the second and third quarters.
“We just tried to stay on the shooters and keep the guys inside contained,” said Waite, who did a nice job defensively in the low post and also scored 13 points. “We did a good job of it. We came out intense.”
The Wolverines opened the third quarter with another 11-0 run to push their lead to 44-22.
Brandon Theriault finished with 14 points and had five steals. Zach McLaughlin added eight points and seven rebounds.
Nick Woods had 11 points, including three 3-pointers, for Richmond.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
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