MILO- The Central Red Devils built a 25 point third quarter lead on Tuesday evening, but had to hold off a furious fourth quarter rally to escape with a 44-38 win over the Penquis Valley Patriots in a boys basketball Penquis League Covid Cup semifinal.
Central scored the first five points of the game and held Penquis without a point for almost the first four minutes. The Patriots would then hold their only lead by scoring six straight to make it 6-5. The Red Devils scored the next five though and led 10-8 after the first eight minutes. The visitors scored the first four points of the second quarter for a 14-8 lead, and this time held Penquis to no points for almost the first five minutes outscoring them 8-2 in the period for an 18-10 halftime lead.
Central (6-7) came out on fire in the third quarter, going on an 8-0 spurt in the first two minutes. A three-pointer by Will Libby, a Simon Allen dish to Lucas Gustin for a layup, and then Allen hit a three of his own to make it 26-10. They would score 19 of the first 21 points of the quarter to take their biggest lead at 37-12. It was 37-16 headed to the fourth. The Patriots cut the deficit to 15 twice in the early moments of the final period. Later, LJ Shaw nailed a three-pointer to make it 39-27, and after a Red Devils turnover Corbin Cyr scored in the lane to slice it to 10. Allen missed the front end of a 1 and 1 at the line with 52 seconds to go, and Zak Mills hit one from behind the arc at the other end to make it 39-34 with 40 seconds remaining. Central put it away at the free throw line as Bryce Burns hit 5-6 in the final 31.4 seconds to ice the win and put the Devils in the championship game. Penquis had won both regular season meetings.
Allen led the way in the win with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Gustin had 12 points and three rebounds. Burns finished with nine points (five in fourth quarter), four rebounds, and four assists. Nick Schlipstein and Libby both had three points a piece, with Schilpstein adding four rebounds. Koby Bean added a basket for two points. Penquis (6-7) was led by Alvin Robshaw who had 12 points and five steals. Shaw had 11 points and three rebounds. Cyr had 10 points and nine rebounds, Mills had three, and Will Waterhouse added two points. Central plays the winner of Dexter-PCHS for the title on Friday evening.
