Hermons Emi Higgins (15) goes up for a layup past John Bapst defender Hannah Philippon during their game at the Cross Insurance Center on Thursday. (Photo by Skip Hawkes/Maine Sports Report)
The Hermon Hawks and John Bapst Crusaders met up in a girls-boys doubleheader in Class B North action on Thursday night at the Cross Insurance Center.
BANGOR- Emi Higgins scored 19 points as the Hermon Hawks girls basketball team held off a late John Bapst rally to come away with a 63-47 Class B North victory on senior night and in the last game of the regular season on Thursday at the Cross Insurance Center.
Hermon started very strong out of the gate as they built an early 13-4 lead only to see a John Bapst 9-0 surge tie the game. The Hawks restored control and the lead as Higgins had 12 in the first half but seven points each from Hannah Phillipon and sister Grace Phillipon left John Bapst within striking distance trailing 31-23 at halftime.
Hermon began to pull away in the third quarter as Higgins had seven points in the period to increase the Hawks lead to 16 headed to the final period. A 10-2 Bapst run to start the final quarter got the Crusaders within eight but they would get no closer as Hermon scored all 14 of their fourth quarter points from the free throw line to earn the victory.
Higgins also had five rebounds to go along with her point total. Bryanne Crouse also had 12 points for Hermon while Maddie Pullen and Alex Allain had eight points a piece.
For John Bapst, Hannah Philippon had a game high 20 points and five rebounds while Crystal Bell had 11 to go along with six rebounds.
Hermon finishes the regular season at 10-8 and sits in seventh place in the Class B North Heal point standings. Hermon will host Washington Academy in a preliminary game next week. John Bapst finishes 11-7 good for sixth place and will also host a preliminary game against Orono next week.
HERM 15 16 18 14- 63
JOHN 13 10 10 14- 47
3 point goals: Hermon- Crouse 2, Pullen 2, Oakes John Bapst- Bell 3, H. Phillipon 2, G. Phillipon
Foul shots: Hermon 20-32 62.5% John Bapst 13-29 44.8%
BANGOR- In the boys contest the Hermon Hawks earned the final playoff spot in Class B by defeating the John Bapst Crusaders 47-33.
Hermon led by as many as 11 points in the first half and held a nine point advantage at halftime.
John Bapst trimmed the lead to five in the third period but still trailed by seven headed into the final quarter of play.
Much like the girls contest the Hermon Hawks had to get tough at the free throw line when it counted with the host Crusaders over the foul limit and they did just that in the final 8 minutes of action. Hermon knocked down 11 out of 13 from the charity stripe as they pulled away and sneak in as the #12 seed and will travel to play a preliminary game next week. The Hawks also had a 13 point advantage from the foul line as they hit 13 for 17 overall while John Bapst missed the lone one they took.
Keenan Marseille led Hermon with 14 points while Jordan Bishop had 13 points and seven rebounds. Tyler Beaton also chipped in with nine points.
John Bapst, who ends their season at 5-13, they were led by Noah Tomah who had 13 points and five rebounds and Nick Lakeman contributed six points.
Hermon, now 9-9, will travel to play the number five seed MDI Trojans next week in the preliminary round of the Class B North tournament.
HERM 11 15 4 17- 47
JOHN 8 9 6 10- 33
3 point goals: Hermon- K. Marseille 2, Beaton, Allen John Bapst- Mooney, Tomah, Dieuveuil
Free throws: Hermon 13-17 76.5% John Bapst 0-1 0%
