BANGOR- In one of the best games of Tourney 2022, the Dexter Tigers overcame a 21 point second quarter deficit and outscored the George Stevens Academy Eagles 24-8 in the fourth quarter Monday night to take home their second straight Class C North boys regional title with a 42-40 win at the Cross Insurance Center.
George Stevens bottled up Dexter for a good part of the first half, as the cold shooting Tigers didn’t score a field goal from the floor until there was 2:30 left in the second quarter. The Eagles would lead 15-2 after the first eight minutes, building that to 23-2 early in the second and held a 25-10 halftime advantage behind 10 points from Bryce Schneider and seven from Teague Smallidge.
Dexter cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since the opening quarter at 27-18 when Kayden Kimball knocked down a short jumper late in the third. GSA though pushed it back to 32-18 at the end of the period on a basket from Azaiah Nanson and a three-pointer from David Gadsby. The Tigers then turned up the defense with some full court pressure over the final eight minutes and the shots started to fall. With the Eagles leading 38-25, the Tigers would go on a 14-0 run to take their first lead of the night. The spurt included three steals by Bryce Connor, and three-pointers by Seth Robbins, Will Kusnierz, and Robbins from long range again after a steal by Avery Gagnon to make it 39-38 Dexter with 1:35 left. Smallidge had a chance to regain the GSA lead with 1:15 to go, but would miss the front end of a 1 and 1 at the line. The ball was knocked out of bounds by Dexter, and Smallidge redeemed himself by hitting a jumper with just over a minute remaining to make it 40-39 Eagles. Gagnon converted on a layup on the other end with just under 40 seconds remaining that ended up as the eventual game winner. The Eagles had a chance on a shot by Gadsby in the lane in the closing seconds that came up empty. A rebound by Kimball ended up in the hands of Connor and he was intentionally fouled and hit 1-2 at the line with two seconds showing on the clock. The Tigers were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.
Kusnierz led the way in the win with 14 points and seven rebounds (eight of the points in the fourth quarter). Robbins and Kimball added eight points a piece. Connor only had five points, but had four steals including three big ones in the final period that fueled the comeback. Dexter shot 11-19 from the foul line. George Stevens Academy had three players in double figures in the loss, led by Smallidge who had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nanson had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Schneider finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Eagles outrebounded the Tigers 34-21 and shot 5-11 from the foul line. GSA finishes their season at 17-3. Dexter (16-5) will now face Dirigo (17-5) in the Class C state championship game at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday at 8:45 p.m.
DEX 2 8 8 24- 42
GSA 15 10 7 8- 40
