EAST CORINTH- Simon Allen had 32 points, and Bryce Burns had 28 on Friday evening helping to lead the Central Red Devils to a 76-61 Class C North boys basketball win over the Stearns Minutemen at Central High School.
Stearns (7-5) held a pair of three leads early in the first quarter, before a jumper by Burns would give Central a lead they would never give back at 9-7. The Red Devils had as much as a six point advantage in the first eight minutes, and 24-21 after one. Allen and Burns combined for 22 of those points. The Minutemen hung around down 30-27 midway through the second, but the hosts ended the first half on a 12-4 run to take a 42-31 lead into halftime.
Central (6-6) looked like they may run away with it, building a 17 point third quarter lead and it was 55-40 headed to the fourth. Stearns would fight back to within six on three different occasions in the final period, but a layup and three-pointer by Will Libby on back to back possessions stretched it back to an 11 point lead. The Devils would hit 8-8 from the foul line in the final eight minutes to help ice the win. Central has now won five of their last six after starting the season 1-5.
Allen added eight rebounds to his game high point total in the victory. Burns also added six rebounds to his 28 big points, including 14-18 from the foul line (6-6 fourth quarter). Burns was named the Bangor Savings Bank Player of the Game. Libby and Lucas Gustin also had eight points each. Caleb Shearer led Stearns in the loss with 19 points. Aidan Sanders had 14 points and five rebounds, Elliott Shearer had 10 points and seven rebounds, Ethan Plourde 10 points, Caden Raymond four points, while both Josh McNally and Gavin Darling chipped in two points a piece. The teams are scheduled to play (weather permitting) in Millinocket on Saturday.
STRNS (7-5) 21 10 9 21- 61
CENTR (6-6) 24 18 13 21- 76
Rebounds- Central 30, Stearns 25
Free Throws- Central 23-29, Stearns 4-8
STEARNS (61)
C. Shearer 7-0-19, Sanders 6-0-14, E. Shearer 5-0-10, Plourde 4-2-10, Raymond 1-2-4, McNally 1-0-2, Darling 1-0-2
Three-pointers- C. Shearer 5, Sanders 2
CENTRAL (76)
Allen 12-6-32, Burns 7-14-28, Gustin 4-0-8, Libby 2-3-8, Schlipstein, Willis, Bean
Three-pointers- Allen 2, Libby
Central guard Bryce Burns had 28 points on Friday evening, helping to lead the Red Devils to a 76-61 Class C boys basketball win over the Stearns Minutemen. Burns was named the Bangor Savings Bank Player of the Game. Photo by Chris Lessner
