BANGOR- The Ellsworth Eagles got a game-high 20 points from Chance Mercier and outscored the Washington Academy Raiders 36-16 in the second half to pull away for a 70-38 Maine Principals’ Association Class B boys quarterfinal win on Saturday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Center.
A three-pointer by freshman Clay Crossman put #8 WA ahead 13-8 in the first quarter, but that is when Ellsworth made a run and eventually put it away. A three-pointer by Kaleb Connors, and then two free throws by both Mercier and Connors led a 7-2 Eagles run and it was 15-15 after eight minutes. They continued the run into the second period starting off on a 12-2 spurt for a 10 point advantage. A steal by Mercier that he passed up to Peter Keblinsky for a dunk made it 32-19 and it was 34-22 at the halftime break. They turned it up even more in the second half, outscoring the Raiders 20-10 in the third and would go up as many as 34 points to improve to 19-0 on the season. Ellsworth will face Old Town in a 3:30 p.m. semifinal on Wednesday.
Mercier added five rebounds and four steals to his point total in the win. Connors had 17 points off the bench (three 3-pointers), while Keblinsky also finished in double figures with 13 points and eight rebounds. Also scoring for Ellsworth was Eamon MacDonald with eight points, Josiah James-Chin with six, and Miles Palmer along with Michael Harris had three points a piece. Donovan Marzoll led Washington Academy in the loss with 11 points. Gabe Leighton had nine, while Crossman and Ben Griffin had seven points each. Griffin also had 10 rebounds. Also scoring on the afternoon for the Raiders was Braeden Thatcher and Brandon Porter who had two points each. WA finishes their season at 9-11.
Recap by Chris Lessner/Photos courtesy of Lisa Prescott/Videos courtesy of Gabe Nason
