PORTLAND — The game plan was spot on. The play in the paint was exactly what Brunswick High School boys basketball coach Todd Hanson wanted … and more.
But, in the end, it was a kind bounce that gave second-seeded Biddeford a pulse-stopping 50-48 victory over the No. 7 Dragons on Saturday night at the Portland Expo in the Class A South quarterfinals. 
Tied at 48, Tigers guard Kyle Norton held for the final shot. Though he worked for a good look, his shot missed. The ball bounced high into the air off the iron and right into the hands of Zach Reali, who put in the winning shot as the buzzer sounded to lift Bidderford, which will face third-seeded Westbrook in the semifinals on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Cross Insurance Arena.  
“We were set up for Kyle, and I noticed my guy went over and I went in and got the offensive rebound and it went in,” said Reali of his game-winning shot, his only field goal of the game. 
“He was in the right place at the right time,” said Hanson of Reali’s winning shot. 
The Dragons nearly stole the game because of the inside work of center Colby Bucknam. He scored 12 points in the opening quarter and finished with a game-high 25 points. 
“We had nothing for Colby. He did a great job. Any time he had a chance, he finished, and if they win that game he is the difference-maker,” Biddeford coach Justin Tardif said. 
“We had to come out and knew what we needed to do, knowing that we had to slow down the ball,” said Bucknam, who also had three blocks and five rebounds. “We wanted to get them off on the inside and we did that. This was the best game that we have played this year.”

Strong start

The first quarter featured solid back-and-forth possessions by both teams. Bucknam was unstoppable inside, while DeSean Cromwell scored five points for Biddeford, with Cody Saucier adding four as the Tigers led 16-14. Brunswick was 7-for-10 from the floor, while Biddeford made 6-of-11. 
The second quarter slowed down, way down. Brunswick had a possession that lasted for more than three minutes, with Kyle Hanson stepping back and draining a 3-pointer to get his team into a 17-17 tie. 
Biddeford pushed back, reeling off five straight points as Saucier nailed a trey as the Tigers grabbed a 22-17 lead. 
But, the Dragons had one more run left in the opening half. Kyle Hanson drained his a second 3-pointer, and Sam Sharpe’s three-point play had Brunswick up, 23-22, at the half. 
“We knew that they were going to be a team that wasn’t going to go away,” said Tardif of the Dragons. “We were up six late in the half, and they come back and take a one-point lead to the break.” 
Neither team found much of a gap in the third quarter. Saucier scored on a short jumper for a 28-25 Tigers lead, and finished the frame with a buzzer-beating lay-in for a 32-29 edge. 
In the fourth, Biddeford seemed to put the game away. Three-point plays by Saucier and Norton had the Tigers up 45-37 with 3:09 remaining, and when Carter Edgerton sank a pair of free throws with 2:27 left, Biddeford had a 47-39 advantage.
The game turned on two plays. Bucknam drove inside, scoring while being fouled by Cromwell, his fifth of the contest. Moments later, Saucier joined his teammate on the Tigers bench with his fifth infraction. Dawson Hebert made two free throws, and a three-point play by Bucknam had the Dragons within two points, 48-46 with 46 seconds left in regulation. 
Brunswick pressed, and an errant Biddeford pass ended up in the hands of Hebert, who scored to tied the game. 
“We were up by eight in the fourth, and suddenly the game is tied. Their toughness was every bit of what I thought it would be,” said Tardif, who had concerns about his team’s foul problems. “With them making that comeback and us in foul trouble, overtime might have been a tough task for us to do.”
Norton, who had four fouls, held the ball for 30 seconds before making his move, and Reali was in the right spot at the right time. 
“Credit to Kyle for holding it. Usually Kyle will just go and try to make a play. He ran a quick setter, got a good look, then credit Zach for getting the rebound and putting it in,” Tarfif said. 
“We executed our game plan to near perfection, wanting to keep the score in the 40s, limit their possessions, be patient on offense and take advantage of the post,” said Coach Hanson. “The post, especially Colby, carried us. We just came up one possession short.”
Brunswick shot 58 percent (21-of-36) from the floor, while Biddeford was 17-of-36 (47 percent) and made 13-of-20 from the free-throw line. Saucier had 22 points to pace the Tigers, while Norton finished with nine points and five rebounds. Cromwell matched Edgerton with six points and led Biddeford with nine boards. 
Kyle Hanson and Sharpe had eight points apiece for Brunswick, with Sharpe pulling down five rebounds and Kyle Hanson adding three assists and three steals.

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