Seth Huntington likes to shoot.
Regardless of the location.
And Tuesday evening, it was Deering High’s gymnasium where the sharpshooting Cheverus senior put on a show.
Huntington made four 3-pointers in the first half to help the Stags build a 17-point lead, then saved his two biggest 3s for the biggest moment. After the Rams drew within a point with under two minutes to play, those shots helped Cheverus earn a 64-55 victory.
Huntington had a game-high 26 points and the Stags, in their first game action in over two weeks, continued their resurgence under new coach Richie Ashley and evened their record at 3-3.
“We’ve changed the culture,” said Huntington. “It changed in the summer. We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
Deering scored the first two points of the game, but Cheverus erupted for the next 10, with Huntington hitting a pair of 3s and a layup. Huntington wound up with 10 points in the first quarter and the Stags forced eight Rams turnovers as they opened up a 17-8 lead.
Deering crept back within six on a layup from Titayo Augusto, but Cheverus opened it up again with a 13-2 run, capped by another Huntington 3-pointer. Huntington scored 18 points in the half half and the Stags led 38-25.
The Rams got six points, including a late layup from Augusto in the third quarter, to make it a 47-41 game heading to the fourth. Deering almost completely erased its 17-point deficit as freshman Evan Lagassey scored eight points – including a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:53 to play – to cut the deficit to just one, 56-55.
But Huntington, who hadn’t made a 3 since the first half, stemmed the run by taking a pass from Silvano Ismail (12 points) and hitting a 3-pointer from up top to restore order.
“I’ll shoot in any gym,” said Huntington. “I just had to focus on keeping my hand wide on my shots and it worked.”
“Seth played great today,” said Ashley. “He answered the bell and hit some big-time shots. Seniors make plays.”
Huntington then put it away with another 3 before Sammy Nzeyimana added a pair of free throws to clinch it.
“This gets us back on track,” Ashley said. “We’ve played some big games. We beat Deering twice and had good games against Portland and Lewiston.”
Lagassey scored 15 points, while Augusto and Remijo Wani each had 12 for the Rams (2-6), who were done in by 22 turnovers.
“We’re up and down and that’s the difference between winning and losing,” said Deering Coach Todd Wing. “Our comeback started on the defensive end. We allowed 38 points in the first half, which is way too many, but we dug down defensively and got back in the game.
“We’re close to getting over the hump. We’re determined to get better and we will get better, no doubt about it.”
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