BANGOR, Maine- The Jonesport-Beals Royals had beaten their semifinal opponent by 31 and 36 points in two regular season meetings. On Thursday night this group of Machias Bulldogs didn’t seem bothered by that. Freshman Ethan Foss had a team high 23 points as the underdogs built a 14 point first half lead, and then pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 79-60 win in a Maine Principals’ Association Class D boys semifinal at the Cross Insurance Center . The win is the biggest upset so far of the 2020 tournament, and one of the biggest in recent years.
The Royals took command early on a basket by Kaiden Crowley, a three point play by Adam Robinson, and a hoop from Alvin Beal Jr. to make it 7-0. The Bulldogs settled in and took the lead for good on a Kyle Anderson shot to make it 10-9. Machias led 19-13 after the opening eight minutes. Another basket from Anderson, a three-pointer from Kashman Feeney, a three point play from Foss, and a layup from Shane Feeney off a nice Anderson feed was part of a 10-2 run to begin the second to put Machias up 29-15. Jonesport-Beals wouldn’t go away though as their full court pressure bothered Machias and Beal Jr., Robinson, and Ryan Alley all had four points in the period as the Royals ended the half on a 15-6 spurt to cut it to 35-30 at the intermission.
In the third quarter the Royals, who didn’t trail much at all in the regular season with their closest victory being 15 points, brought their faithful fans to their feet. A basket by K. Crowley almost halfway through the period sliced the margin to 37-36. But Machias didn’t faulter in the eyes of the pressure. The Bulldogs responded with a 15-0 run with six of those points coming from Anderson and K. Feeney combined to give them their biggest lead 52-36. Machias led 55-39 after three. Marc Crowley had a big fourth quarter as Jonesport-Beals had one more push. He hit five 3-pointers in the period as the Royals cut it to 55-47 at one point. The trapping full court pressure however created foul trouble though as Beal Jr., Brady Reynolds, K. Crowley, and Ryan Alley all fouled out. Once the lead had been trimmed to eight, the Bulldogs hit clutch free throws to pull away. Machias hit 18-25 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes to advance to the regional final Saturday.
Foss added five rebounds to his team high point total in the Machias win. Anderson and K. Feeney had 16 points each, with six and eight rebounds respectively. Jayden Rhodes contributed 12 points, S. Feeney chipped in 10 points, while Breckin Gooch also had a basket for two points. The Bulldogs and Royals both had 25 rebounds, and Machias hit 34-45 from the foul line in the upset victory.
Jonesport-Beals was led by M. Crowley who had 15 in the fourth quarter and a game high 24 points in all in the loss. Beal Jr. and Robinson both finished with nine points, with Robinson adding six rebounds. Also chipping in was K. Crowley with eight points and four rebounds, Alley with eight points as well and eight rebounds, and Zachary Vincent with a basket for two points. The Royals shot 6-10 from the line and finish off a fantastic season with a record of 17-1.
#4 Machias (11-8) moves on to face #6 Easton (14-6) in the Class D North regional championship game on Saturday morning at approximately 10:45 a.m.
