Chadbourne, Gaw and fourth quarter free throws lift PCHS boys basketball over GSA

GUILFORD- Scott Chadbourne and Brady Gaw combined for 48 points on Saturday afternoon, and shot 10-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to help lead the Piscataquis Community High School (PCHS) Pirates to a 68-59 Class C North boys basketball win over George Stevens Academy in a game played at Piscataquis Community Secondary School.

PCHS never trailed. Chadbourne had the hot hand in the first half, as he scored seven points in the first quarter and 13 more in the second with four 3-pointers as the Pirates built a 35-26 halftime advantage. With George Stevens hanging around down 41-34 in the third period, the hosts went on a 9-0 run fueled by two 3-point baskets by Gaw and one by Chase Lander to take their biggest lead of the day 50-34. Not to be outdone, Patrick Dagan had a big second half for the Eagles and wouldn’t let them go away quietly. He scored eight of his teams final 10 points in the quarter, and his 3-pointer at the buzzer pulled them back within 51-44 heading to the fourth. PCHS slowed down their offense and didn’t record one field goal from the floor in the final eight minutes, having to rely on foul shooting to try to hang on for the victory. Another 3-pointer by Dagan with 51.3 seconds left got GSA within 61-59. That was the last score of the day for the Eagles however, as Chadbourne, Gaw, and Ben Higgins combined to go 7-8 from the line (including 1-2 by Chadbourne on technical foul free throws) to sew up the big heal point worthy win for the Pirates. They went 17-22 at the stripe in the fourth.

Chadbourne ended up with a team-high 28 points in the win and also had eight rebounds (five 3-pointers and 9-12 from the foul line). Gaw finished with 20 points, 15 in the second half (four 3-pointers), also adding seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Lander contributed eight points (two 3-pointers), Higgins has seven points, and Noah Cain chipped in five. The Pirates overall shot 22-29 at the line for the game and hit 12 3-pointers to improve to 8-6 on the season. Dagan had a game-high 31 points and 11 rebounds (20 points in second half) in the loss for George Stevens Academy (12-3). He also hit four 3-pointers and had three steals. Brady Pert hit three 3-pointers for nine points, Emmett Allen had eight points, Sean Morey seven, while both Coby Reynolds and Colby Eaton had two points. The Eagles hit 2-6 at the line and won the rebounding battle 37-23. PCHS returns to action on Monday when they travel to Greenville, while GSA is on the road Tuesday at Narraguagus.

Recap by Chris Lessner/Photos by Chris Lessner and Eastern Maine Sports Media