BANGOR- Pierce Walston had 20 points and Ben Francis added 17 on Saturday afternoon, as the Orono Red Riots got off to a 15 point first quarter lead and never trailed in taking a 64-56 victory over Ellsworth in a Maine Principals’ Association Class B Boys North Regional Championship game played at the Cross Insurance Center.
A three-pointer pointer by Ellis Spaulding and four points in a row by Walston right off the tip had Orono up 7-0 early. A three point play later in the first quarter by Will Francis gave the Red Riots an 18-3 lead. It was 18-6 after the opening eight minutes. After Ellsworth cut it to eight early in the second period, Walston finished off a 7-0 run by nailing a three-pointer with 4:35 left before halftime that pushed it back to that 15 point advantage again at 27-12. It was 31-16 at the break. Orono scored first in the third quarter to up their largest lead of the day to 17, but Chance Mercier came alive for the Eagles to start cutting into that deficit. The junior forward who had 11 points in the first half, would score 11 in the period as the Eagles got within 42-35. The Red Riots held a 47-38 lead heading to the fourth. One more run by the defending regional champions from Ellsworth would slice it to 55-52 on 1-2 from the free throw line by Josiah James-Chin with 2:40 left. That is as close as they’d get and after Noah Schaff and Peter Keblinsky exchanged baskets, Orono would put it away from the foul line hitting 9-14 from the charity stripe in the final eight minutes in winning their first regional title since 1996.
Walston added eight rebounds and five assists to his point total in the win for Orono, while Ben Francis also chipped in six rebounds. Also scoring for the Red Riots in the win was Spaulding and Will Francis with nine points a piece, Schaff had four, Mason Kenney had three, and Caden Gray added one basket for two points. Mercier had a game-high 27 points in the loss for Ellsworth. James-Chin had eight points, Keblinsky and Michael Harris had four points each, Eamon MacDonald, Miles Palmer, and Kyle Kenny contributed three points a piece, and Kaleb Connors along with Hollis Grindal chipped in two points each. The Eagles who won the regional final in blowout fashion last season over the Red Riots, end their season at 20-1 with their first regular season loss in 2 years. Orono (18-3), who has now won 10 Class B regional titles, will seek their first gold ball since 1981 when they face Oceanside in the state title game next Saturday, March 4th at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland at 2:45 p.m.
Recap by Chris Lessner/Photos by Lisa Prescott/Videos by Marc Calnan, Gabe Nason, and Chris Lessner
