BANGOR- Coach Jason Coleman and his Orono Red Riots knew it was going to be a tough task on Wednesday evening to defeat the top seeded Old Town Coyotes. Old Town had won both regular season meetings. But despite trailing early in the fourth quarter Orono would rally and steal a 52-51 win in a Maine Principals’ Association Class B boys semifinal game played at the Cross Insurance Center Wednesday night.
In an almost full Cross Insurance Center with an attendance of somewhere around 3,500 fans to watch these two crosstown rivals do battle, it was the Coyotes who took an early advantage. Nine points between Kaleb Gifford and Andre Miller in the opening quarter gave Old Town the 15-10 lead after one.
Imao Woldring came off the bench to score four second quarter points and Kamron Hines also had a pair of buckets as Orono outscored Old Town 14-10 in the second period to cut the Coyotes lead to 25-24 at halftime.
Old Town used a 7-2 run to start quarter number three and extend the lead to 32-26. Orono led 38-34 after the third period.
Old Town scored six of the first nine points in the final quarter and the Coyotes had their biggest lead at 44-37 with 6:25 left to play. But Orono stayed patient and was able to get back into the game late in the period. Jackson Coutts and Keenan Collett both had big shots and key free throws to combine for eight points and Nate Desisto also had five huge points in the quarter including a key three pointer. Orono worked the deficit down to 47-45 with 2:36 left and a three pointer and slicing layup by Desisto tied the game at 51 with just under a minute remaining. Orono had the ball with 44 seconds left and a Coleman timeout. Orono seemed to be content with a last shot attempt as Coleman called another timeout with 11 seconds remaining. The Riots got the ball to Jake Koffman who was fouled with just 3.8 seconds remaining on the clock. Koffman missed the first on a two shot foul but hit the second to give Orono the one point lead, their first lead since the early going of the first quarter. Old Town had one more chance as Miller would throw up a desperation three pointer as the buzzer sounded but the ball hit off the side of the rim as the Riots advanced to the regional final.
Old Town, who finishes 16-4, Gifford led the way with 13 points while Ryan Hoogterp had 11. Drew Coulombe chipped in with nine and Miller ended with eight.
Fourth seeded Orono, now 16-4 on the seawon, was led by Desisto who had 11 points. Collett had 10 points, Collett had eight, while Woldring and Koffman each had seven a piece. Koffman also had 12 rebounds. Orono now advances to Saturday’s regional final to face second seeded Ellsworth at 3:45 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center.
