BANGOR- The Southern Warriors held the Machias Bulldogs to six first half points, and then held off a Machias rally to capture the Class D North boys regional title on Saturday with a 44-37 victory at the Cross Insurance Center.
Southern Aroostook held Machias to no field goals from the floor until there was 4:25 left in the second quarter. The Warriors led by as many as 13 in the first half, and 17-6 at the halftime break. After Hunter Burpee scored down low for the first basket of the third quarter for Southern Aroostook, Machias came alive with an 8-0 run and cut the deficit to five twice in the period. The Warriors would push the lead back to 12 at 28-16, and led 30-21 headed to the fourth. The Bulldogs got a put back layup by Kyle Anderson to slice it to 39-34 with two minutes left, and then had a chance to get closer when Dylan Burpee missed two free throws with 1:38 to play. Machias couldn’t take advantage though, just cutting one more point off the deficit when Kashman Feeney hit 1-2 from the line. The Warriors put it away in the final minute by hitting 5-6 from the free throw stripe.
Hunter Burpee and Dylan Burpee had 12 points a piece to lead Southern Aroostook, while Camden Porter added 10. Hunter had 10 rebounds and Dylan added four. The Warriors (19-1) win their first regional title since 1991, and will play for the state title against either Forest Hills or Valley next Saturday, March 5 at 2:45 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center. Shane Feeney led Machias in the loss with 14 points and nine rebounds, Kashman Feeney had nine points and seven rebounds, and Anderson finished with seven points and 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs outrebounded the Warriors 34-24. Machias ends their season at 17-1.
SACS 8 9 13 14- 44
MACH 2 4 15 16- 37
