AUGUSTA- Charlie Houghton nailed a three-pointer as time expired Saturday night, as the Dirigo Cougars rallied from a 13 point fourth quarter deficit to knock off the Dexter Tigers 59-56 in the Class C boys state championship game at the Augusta Civic Center.
Dexter took an early 8-2 lead and led 12-8 after the opening eight minutes with six early points coming from Avery Gagnon. Dirigo took their first lead of the night 17-15 with a 7-0 run in the second quarter on a basket by Trent Hutchinson. The senior guard Gagnon finished off a huge first half (16 points) for the Tigers with a three-pointer to give his team a 25-24 halftime edge.
Dexter continued to hold the lead throughout the third quarter, building to their largest lead to that point at 43-33 headed to the fourth. A three point play by Will Kusnierz to begin the final eight minutes gave the Tigers a 13 point edge. The Cougars would then come storming back. A 16-6 run finished off by a Houghton bucket sliced it to 52-49. After the Tigers pushed it back to five on a big basket from Gagnon, Houghton nailed a three-pointer and then after a Dexter turnover Trent Holman gave Dirigo their first lead since the second quarter with another one from behind the arc to make it 55-54. A Kusnierz score gave Dexter the lead back with just over a minute left, before Wyatt Smith evened things for the Cougars on a 1-2 effort from the foul line with just under 40 seconds remaining. Will Spratt would miss a three-point attempt with 11 seconds left on the other end for the Tigers, and Dirigo grabbed the rebound and called a timeout to set up a final play. The ball came to Houghton who caught a pass, dribbled out behind the three-point arc and turned and let a shot go with less than three seconds showing on the clock that went through the net as the buzzer sounded.
Houghton led Dirigo in the win with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals (14 points in the fourth quarter). Dakota Tompkins added 13 points, while Holman ended up with eight points and five rebounds. The Cougars outrebounded the Tigers 30-23, and finish the season 18-5 winning their first state title since 2012. Gagnon had a game high 27 points (four 3-pointers) and grabbed seven rebounds in the loss for Dexter. Kusnierz had 12 points and eight rebounds. Seth Robbins would also chip in eight points and five assists. The Tigers shot 4-11 from the foul line (3-9 in fourth quarter). Dexter finishes at 16-6, losing for a second consecutive time in the state championship game (last state title 1986 in Class B).
DEX 12 13 18 13- 56
DIR 8 16 9 26- 59
