Buckfield uses its height to overcome North Haven.
BUCKFIELD – Buckfield and North Haven squared off in a classic David vs. Goliath matchup in Western Maine Class D boys’ preliminary basketball action Wednesday afternoon.
The Bucks (12-6), led by Scott Wetherell (15 points), Marc Smith (14 points), Harry Hayes (13 points), and Tristin Brackett (10 points), used their considerable height advantage to clog up the middle, forcing the mite-sized Hawks (8-11) to turn to a bombs-away barrage of three-point shots.
The Bucks eventually came out on top with a 63-58 victory.
Buckfield jumped out to a 28-17 first-quarter lead using a combination of quickness and size to dominate the paint where the Bucks took advantage of their size to bury four quick layups by Brackett. And it looked like Goliath might waltz into the quarter-final round against No. 6 NYA Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
The Hawks, led by long-range shooters Geoff Barrett (game-high 22 points, three 3-pointers) and Ryan Lantagne (15 points, three 3-pointers), stormed back, pulling to within three points for much of the second half.
The Hawks opened the final quarter with a quick three-point shot from Lantagne and the lead was cut to 52-46 leaving the Bucks dazed but not out.
The loud partisan Buckfield crowd chanted for defense and the Bucks responded with a couple of quick steals but no points to break North Haven’s rhythm.
“Our size was definitely the difference in this one,” said coach Cam Cowett. “We were able to control the boards and force the outside shot, but their shooters just kept hitting three’s to keep the game tight. We couldn’t have had a tougher game today.”
The Hawks pulled to within three points on three separate occasions in the final two minutes of play.
They looked poised for an upset when an errant pass behind Ben Lovell with 24 seconds remaining went out of bounds, virtually sealing the score for Buckfield. North Haven was forced to foul, sending both Wetherell and Harry Hayes to the line where they made three of four to secure the final margin of victory.
“My kids couldn’t have played any better than they did today,” said coach Chuck Curtiss. “We had a couple of costly turnovers in the final seconds or it could have been us heading home with the win”
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