Aiden Gomm led four players in double figures with 20 points on Thursday night, in leading the Old Town Coyotes to a 64-52 Class B North boys basketball win over the Ellsworth Eagles at MacKenzie Gymnasium in Old Town.
A night after the same two schools met in a matchup of top Class B girls teams, two of the best on the boys side took center stage. Both Ellsworth and Old Town held a lead in the first quarter, but eight points from Chance Mercier helped the Eagles end the opening eight minutes on a run of 8-3 to take a 16-10 advantage. After trailing 24-17 early in the second, the home Coyotes finished the first half on a spurt of 9-2 including a running jumper by Gomm at the buzzer to tie it 26-26 at the break.
Old Town added to that run to start the third quarter, scoring 12 of the first 14 points (21-4 spurt overall) to take a lead they would never relinquish at 38-28. Emmitt Byther had eight of those first 12 for the Coyotes in the period. The hosts got a three-pointer by Brendan Mahaney and a basket by Grayson Thibeault to extend it to 51-38 about halfway through the fourth. Ellsworth would chip away though, as two free throws and a bucket by Mercier and a steal and layup by Miles Palmer capped off a run of 12-2 to cut it to 53-50. Two technical fouls on Mercier shortly after would end his night however, and Old Town hit 9-10 from the foul line in the closing minute to ice it and help them stay unbeaten thus far.
Mercier finished with 30 points (three 3-pointers) in the loss for 6-2 Ellsworth. He had 20 of the Eagles 26 second half points. Also chipping in was Palmer with seven points, Brayden King, Kyle Kenny, and Josiah James-Chin with four points a piece, Bryce Hart with two points, and Isiah Corson had a free throw for one point. They shot 12-13 from the line. Along with the 20 from Gomm (three 3-pointers), Byther had 17 points, Thibeault 15, and Mahaney 11 in the win for Old Town. DJ Francis added a free throw for one point as the Coyotes improved to 7-0, and shot 11-20 from the line. Both teams are back in action Saturday, as Ellsworth will host Houlton and Old Town heads downeast to face the MDI Trojans.
Recap by Chris Lessner
Old Town forward Brendan Mahaney (#34 in green) tries to defend a shot as Grayson Thibeault (#13) looks on during a Class B Tournament game against Ellsworth back in February in Bangor. Mahaney and Thibeault were two of four Coyotes that scored in double figures on Thursday night, as Old Town improved to 7-0 on the season with a 64-52 win over the Eagles. Photo by Lisa Prescott
