AUGUSTA – The last remaining Pine Tree Academy starter on the Augusta Civic Center court, junior Jerod Verrill, dished to freshman Tyler Fowler with orders.

“Shoot that! Shoot that!” Verrill barked above the fourth-quarter din.

Five or six wide-open jumpers away from at least two tournament records, Verrill demonstrated that he’s one of the most well-rounded and unselfish in the Western Class D tournament. Verrill’s 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists Monday morning pushed No. 4 Pine Tree to an 87-52 quarterfinal rout of No. 12 Vinalhaven.

Verrill canned five of the Breakers’ 11 3-pointers. Freshman Ben Goodall added 18 points and Chris Gepford and Will McClaran scored 10 apiece for Pine Tree (17-3), which faces top-ranked Hyde in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Pine Tree waited two days to clinch only the second semifinal berth in the program’s history.

The Maine Principals’ Association switched the game from Saturday to Monday to accommodate Pine Tree, a Freeport school affiliated with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Pine Tree observes its Sabbath day from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday.

Verrill drained four treys in the second period as the Breakers expanded their advantage from 24-15 to 43-24 at the half.

He added nine more points in the third stanza, making it a 65-39 advantage, and Pine Tree cruised through a fourth quarter in which eight of its 10 players scored at least two points.

Pine Tree shot 52 percent from the field, out-rebounded Vinalhaven (7-11) by a dozen and forced 16 turnovers.

Josh Doughty led Vinalhaven with 19 points, followed by Josh Miller with 14. The Vikings knocked off fifth-seeded Greater Portland Christian School in the preliminary round to reach Augusta.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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