Ian Pullen drops in the game-winning free throws with three seconds left.
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – They heard all the barbs, about how they’d better not forget their sticks. St. Dom’s just ignored the hockey jokes and put their basketball program on the map Monday afternoon.

“My grandmother lives up north and she goes to Foxcroft Academy games and they’re in the Eastern Maine tournament,” said St. Dom’s senior point guard Ian Pullen. “She told everybody ‘I’ve got to miss the Foxcroft game to see my grandson play for St. Dom’s and they all asked: ‘Does he play hockey?'”

Pullen assured his grandmother at least one more trip to Augusta by draining two free throws with 3.4 seconds left as the third-seeded Saints pulled out a tense 52-50 squeaker over sixth-seeded Boothbay in the Western Class C quarterfinals. It is the first win in Augusta in the history of St. Dom’s basketball, boys’ or girls’.

The Saints will try to double that total against second-seeded Jay in the semifinals on Thursday.

Things didn’t look very promising for the Saints (15-2) when it became apparent that a game that saw seven ties and 13 lead changes would ultimately hinge on free throws. Going into the fourth quarter, St. Dom’s was 3-for-8 from the charity stripe, while Boothbay was 11-of-13 (17-for-19 for the game).

But the Saints got hot from the line when it counted most, making 2-of-6 in the fourth quarter.

“I was a little nervous when it came down to free throws,” Saints co-coach Mike Gray said. “Ian Pullen’s the one we want up there, though.”

After spending most of the first half on the bench with two fouls, Pullen scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half, including all three of the Saints’ field goals in the fourth quarter. Pullen’s drive and layup with 1:05 left tied the game for final time at 50-50. Jimmy Mayo followed with a big steal that gave the Saints the ball with 48 seconds remaining.

St. Dom’s called a timeout, worked the clock down to 15 seconds, then called another timeout.

“Down the stretch in the fourth quarter, there was no doubt in our mind that the ball needs to be in Ian Pullen’s hands,” Saints co-coach Dan DeBruin said. “He either calls his own number or he makes the decision to give in to someone else.”

Pullen decided to call his own number on the final play, driving down the right side of the lane and drawing a blocking foul on Boothbay’s Jack Sherman (13 points). Boothbay then called time to try to ice the senior.

“I wasn’t even nervous,” Pullen said. “Once I made the first one, I knew the second one was in.”

Mayo made another big defensive play as the Seahawks inbounded the ball following Pullen’s second make, deflecting the pass and allowing enough time to burn off the clock so Boothbay could only attempt a desperation 3-pointer from halfcourt that fell short at the buzzer.

Not a lot was falling short for Chris Rainville in the first half. The St. Dom’s forward took over when Pullen went to the bench late in the first quarter and nailed the second of three first-half treys to give the Saints a 16-14 lead at the end of the period. Rainville (18 points, six rebounds) drilled his final trey just before the end of the half to give the Saints a one-point lead at intermission.

“Chris carried us in the first half and Ian did the exact same thing in the second half,” Gray said.

“Ian’s the heart of our team,” Rainville said. “When he goes out, people have to step up, and tonight it was my turn.”

The Saints couldn’t shake the Seahawks (11-8) in the third quarter, as Boothbay burned them backdoor on numerous occasions.

“I was really pleased with the way our kids played,” said Boothbay coach I.J. Pinkham. “I felt we played hard defensively and we played offensively as well as we can.”

St. Dom’s led by two going into the fourth, but a putback by Mike Norton (eight points, 14 rebounds) to start the final period began a quarter-long scoreboard see-saw that included four ties and six lead changes. Pullen’s inside bucket midway through the period preceded the pivotal free-throw shooting contest down the stretch. Freshman Owen Johnson swished a pair from the line to give Boothbay its final lead with 1:27 left before Pullen supplied the 50-50 tie with his drive to the hoop.

“We see this as an icebreaker,” DeBruin said. “We feel like we got through the first one. Now anything can happen.”

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