Andrew Perry spoke with a red spot in the corner of his left eye, the result of getting poked there while going after a rebound during a Class A South boys’ basketball quarterfinal.
It was the only complaint Perry or his Marshwood teammates could have Saturday afternoon.
Perry scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading No. 3 seed Marshwood to a 51-35 victory over No. 6 Fryeburg Academy at the Portland Expo.
Cooper Aiguier added 12 points, Jason Singer had 10 and David Lane scored nine for the Hawks (14-5), who were without leading rebounder Jared Herrin because of a concussion.
Marshwood advanced to the semifinals Wednesday against No. 2 Gray-New Gloucester.
Lorenzo Catana Vallemani scored 13 points to lead Fryeburg (9-10).
“We came out today missing one of our key players, so we had to come out and play a little harder,” Perry said. “And for our seniors, we wanted to come out and not end on a loss.”
It took a while for the Hawks to find their gear – they led 19-17 at halftime – but they pulled away in the second half. They shot 7 for 12 in the third quarter en route to a 34-24 lead, then went 7 for 9 in the fourth as they pushed the lead to as much as 17.
“We had other players step up, they started hitting shots, and then we kept feeding off that energy,” said Perry, who scored 10 points in the first half and seven in the third quarter. “Once we got going, our confidence got up.”
With Lane running the point, the Hawks attacked the basket. Of their 32 second-half points, 22 were in the paint.
“That was a huge key for us,” Marshwood Coach Bobby Pratt said. “We felt confident, Andrew is very good in the paint, but we like Jason Singer attacking from the perimeter. … We certainly scored quite a few baskets inside. When we do that, we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves.”
The game didn’t go Fryeburg’s way from the start, as a dunk during warmups resulted in the game starting not with a jump ball, but with two technical free throws from Aiguier. The Raiders shook it off, and the game was tied at 17-17 near the end of the second quarter before a Singer basket gave the Hawks a lead they didn’t surrender.
“You can talk all Xs and Os, all that stuff, but at the end of the day, basketball’s a simple game. It comes down to who’s going to make shots,” Fryeburg Coach Daniel Thomas said. “I’ll credit Marshwood, they made their shots. I liked the looks we were getting, they just didn’t all fall today.”
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