BANGOR- Dylan Burpee led all scorers with 36 points, and six Southern Aroostook players overall got into the scorebook on Monday night en route to a second straight boys state championship by beating Forest Hills for a second straight year 83-56 in the Class D Final played at the Cross Insurance Center.
Forest Hills held three slim leads early, with their last lead of the night being a one point edge at 10-9 on a basket from Cooper Daigle. A bucket underneath by Graham Siltz, who had 10 of his 21 points in the first quarter, would put Southern Aroostook ahead to stay. The Warriors led 19-15 after the opening eight minutes. Dylan Burpee caught fire in the second, as he hit a pair of three-pointers part of 15 point outburst in the period as the lead went to as many as 20 as they outscored FH 24-9 to make it 43-24 at halftime. After falling behind by 22 early in the third quarter, the Tigers scored eight straight points to get the closest they’d be the rest of the way at 46-32. Southern Aroostook ended the third on an 11-4 run to build the advantage back to 57-36. That lead would go to as many as 29 in the final eight minutes, as the Warriors for a second straight season took home the gold ball over the same opponent.
Dylan Burpee added seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots to his game-high point total knocking down four 3-pointers. Siltz had a double double with 21 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. Buddy Porter chipped in 13 points, four rebounds, and hit three 3-pointers. Also scoring in the win for Southern Aroostook was Trafton Russell with eight points, Ethan Collier with three, and Drake Weston with two points. The Warriors hit a Class D State Championship game record nine 3-pointers, finishing the season at 22-0. Mason Desjardins had 34 points, five rebounds, and four steals in the loss for Forest Hills. Desjardins nailed six 3-pointers. Daigle finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Also scoring for the Tigers was Blaine Nadeau with seven points, and Braidan Welch along with Hiram Logston with two points a piece as their season ends with an 18-4 record. Forest Hills was appearing in their fourth straight state title game, winning in 2019 and 2020 and now falling in back to back seasons to Southern Aroostook.
Recap by Chris Lessner/Photo by Marc Calnan/Videos by Marc Calnan, Gabe Nason, Zach White, and Chris Lessner
