Mountain Valley 46
Windham 51
With the regular season halted for the holiday break, the Windham boys basketball team stayed in action with a good run at the Maine Mall Holiday Classic at the Portland Expo last week.
After winning its opening round game against Bonny Eagle on Dec. 26, the Eagles went into the second round and came out with a 51-46 win over Mountain Valley on Dec. 27.
Windham came out early in the game against Mountain Valley, building an 8-5 lead thanks to scoring from junior guard Ryan MacQueston (who finished with six points), senior guard Travis Guerrette (who finished with five points) and junior center Nate Dixon (who finished with seven points).
After Mountain Valley had cut the Eagles’ lead to just one with three minutes left, sophomore forward Jackson Taylor (six points on the night) got a quick lay in to make the lead 10-7 in favor of the Eagles.
But just as quickly, Mountain Valley grabbed the momentum right back. A couple of quick hoops and a steal gave Mountain Valley a 13-12 lead with 1:35 left in the first. Mountain Valley added a three-pointer with 1:17 left made the score 16-12, which is the way the quarter ended.
As the second quarter began, both teams traded scores and Windham was unable to cut into the Mountain Valley until, with 4:45 left, sophomore forward Garrett Clemmer (seven points) hit a three to bring Windham within one, 18-17.
The Eagles regained the lead just over two minutes later when sophomore guard Jon Sangillo hit two free throws to put Windham on top 21-20 with 2:20 left in the half.
The two teams exchanged leads until halftime, when Mountain Valley found itself up 23-21 at the break.
Windham cut the Mountain Valley back down to one with 5:34 left to go in the third when MacQueston hit a free throw to cut the lead to 27-26. Two quick scores gave Mountain Valley a 31-26 cushion with 4:15 left in the period, a lead that eventually extended to 34-26.
Windham began cutting into the lead with 2:40 left to go in the third. Sophomore forward Nick Taylor hit a running layup to cut the lead to 34-28. But, Mountain Valley battled right back, hitting a three to extend the lead back to nine. The Eagles did manage to cut the lead back down to five by the end of the third quarter, thanks to a Clemmer baseline shot that cut the lead to 37-32.
Fortune continued to smile on the Eagles in the fourth quarter as they continued to hit their shots as Mountain Valley’s continued to refuse to fall.
Windham cut the lead to one on a nice hustle play by Sangillo with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. After Guerrette missed a layup, Sangillo grabbed the rebound and put it home to make the score 37-36.
The Eagles tied the game with 3:21 left when MacQueston went to the line and hit one free throw to even the score at 41. The Eagles took the lead with 3:03 left when Nick Taylor scored off a Windham steal to give the Eagles a 43-41 lead.
The game stayed tight in the final minutes, with neither team able to keep a lead. After Mountain Valley took a 46-45 lead on a three-pointer with 1:10 left, Windham came up with a huge defensive stop and took a 47-46 lead on a Sangillo hoop with 24 seconds left.
After that, the Eagles came up big when it counted, and pulled away to a hard-fought 51-46 win.
Windham had a chance to win the tournament, reaching the finals before falling to Cheverus 39-35 on Saturday night.
The Eagles returned to regular season action on Jan. 3 against Portland. Their next game is Jan. 5 when they go on the road to face Westbrook at 7 p.m.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
