Rainville’s 23 points lead St. Dom’s to 65-49 win over Traip
By Kalle Oakes
Sports Editor

AUBURN – Like Major League Baseball’s annual hot stove league, summer basketball is where many high school championships are won.

Sure, the first Friday night in December at Callahan Family Gymnasium marked the official season opener for St. Dominic Regional High School, but June, July and August were when the Saints recognized that the winter winds might blow in a season to remember.

“Out of all the teams we played in summer basketball, we had more players than anybody else,” said Chris Rainville.

Rainville, one of five senior starters for St. Dom’s, scored

23 points to lead the Saints to a 65-49 rout of the Traip Rangers on opening night of boys’ hoop in the Western Maine Conference.

St. Dom’s hit seven of its first eight shots to open a double-digit lead in the first eight minutes. The margin grew to 23 late in the third period as the Saints avenged a road defeat that broke their spirit at the end of the regular season last February.

“Traip has been one of our biggest rivals since we were co-captains our senior year,” said Dan DeBruin, who co-coaches St. Dom’s with Mike Gray. “We lost a game in overtime down there that would have given us the fourth seed (in Western Class C) and sent us straight to Augusta.”

Instead, the Saints slipped into a preliminary game, lost at home to Jay and missed out on a quarterfinal berth.

Ian Pullen added 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for St. Dom’s, which not only avenged the verdict that soured last season but looked mighty impressive in picking apart a perennial tournament team.

Jeremy Richardson drained three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points for the Saints.

“It’s easy to see where the leadership comes from,” said Gray. “Ian and Chris raise the bar for everybody else.”

Pullen poured in 10 and Rainville knocked down nine in the first-quarter flurry. St. Dom’s lured Traip seniors Mike Scott (16 points) and Brian Fletcher into early foul difficulty and demonstrated its strength both in the paint and along the perimeter.

“Last year, we were a one-dimensional team that looked to our post players,” Rainville said. “We wanted to come out and make a statement that we’re a different team.”

“We definitely wanted to start out that way,” said Pullen. “We feel like we’re capable of running the floor.”

Traip used a 12-3 run late in the first half, fueled by a bank shot 3-pointer by Sam Tate, to trim the deficit to 34-26 with 2:01 to go. Rainville knocked down a jumper from the left baseline, however, to restore the 10-point edge at the half.

Richardson scored eight in a two-minute span to ignite a 13-0 Saints run late in the third to put it away.

Rainville (four steals) led a St. Dom’s defensive effort that forced 23 turnovers and held the Rangers to 33 percent proficiency from the field.

koakes@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link