Oxford Hills sheds it headbands and Lawrence.
BANGOR – Oxford Hills spoke a simple mantra throughout this, the most successful regular season in the history of its boys’ basketball program.
Respect all. Fear none.
Add a third two-word command to that list of marching orders: No headbands.
Convinced that the green loops of felt adorning their newly shaven heads contained bad karma after a wretched first half that ended with a nine-point deficit, the top-seeded Vikings dispensed with the 1970s look at the start of the third period.
Maybe superstition paid dividends. Oxford Hills enjoyed a 16-point reversal in the third quarter, then swished 10-of-12 free throws in the fourth to squeeze out a 56-54 victory over No. 8 Lawrence in the Eastern Class A quarterfinals at Bangor Auditorium,
“They were bad luck,” said 6-foot-5 senior forward Corey Tielinen, who gave up his notoriously bushy locks in the name of team unity.
Tielinen’s no Samson. He scored eight of his 14 points in the third quarter to fuel the rally that catapulted Oxford Hills from a 26-17 halftime deficit to a 40-33 lead.
Leif Kothe paced Oxford Hills (18-1) with 15 points. Matt McDonnell added 12 for the Vikings, who will meet the Bangor-Mt. Ararat winner in Friday’s semifinals.
Nate Lambert led gritty Lawrence (13-7) with 18 points.
“They’re a bunch of football players who get on the floor and get after it,” said Tielinen. “(Jake Gregory) was pretty much face-guarding me end line to end line the whole first half.”
Tielinen grabbed six of seven rebounds in the second half. Oxford Hills controlled the glass by a 17-7 margin after the break.
“We challenged our kids at halftime,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “(Lawrence was) getting to every loose ball before we were, and they were killing us on the boards.”
Even though its newfound seven-point lead held up until the final three minutes, Oxford Hills had to sweat it out down the stretch.
Two Lambert treys, the second benefiting from a shooter’s roll, and a third trifecta by Chris Dennis that also utilized plenty of iron pulled the Bulldogs within one, 52-51, with 55 seconds to go.
But the Vikings’ Josh Powell, who had drained a pair of free throws with 1:13 left, did it again with 26.5 seconds on the clock.
Lambert hit the second of two freebies to make it 54-52. The Bulldogs’ subsequent full-court pressure failed to account for Thomas Kothe, however, and the Vikes found him alone behind the five blue shirts for the uncontested, clinching bucket.
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