It’s not easy being the favorite going into the Western C tournament. Just ask the top-seeded Hall-Dale Bulldogs, who have been in this position before.
Hall-Dale begins its quest for its first regional title in 31 years confronted by defending Western Maine champion Jay. The Tigers are the ninth seed, but they have seven seniors, some of whom played key roles on last year’s squad.
That’s not an easy quarterfinal draw for the No. 1 team, but in a bracket featuring seven teams that have already reached double figures in wins this year, nothing is going to come easy.
Favorite
Hall-Dale. The top seed chewed up the Mountain Valley Conference, suffering its only loss to Class B Mountain Valley before getting even with the Falcons in the conference championship game. The Bulldogs relies on the size on 6-10 center Matt Wheelock and 6-7 forward Jon Hill and the steadiness of seniors Ben Laflin and Jack Leet. They’re also hungry after a disappointing finish last year, when they were also the No. 1 seed and got knocked out of the semifinals by Georges Valley.
Dark horses
Wiscasset and Boothbay. Wiscasset is led by two-time MVC Player of the Year Conrad Griffin. It also has nine seniors and is the only team in the tournament that can come close to matching Hall-Dale’s size. Boothbay is young (no seniors) but very talented, and they now have the dean of Western C coaches, I.J. Pinkham.
Players to watch: Hall-Dale: Matt Wheelock (Sr. center), Ben Laflin (Sr. forward); Wiscasset: Conrad Griffin (Sr. guard); Boothbay: Owen Johnson (Soph. forward), Kris Noonan (Frosh. center); Telstar: Sean Caddigan (Jr. guard), Ryan Savage (Sr. guard); Traip: Kevin Nicholson (Jr. forward); Winthrop: Jason Allen (Sr. forward), Mike Gingras (Soph. guard); Madison: Ryan Pinham (Sr. center); Jay: Justin Wells (Sr. guard).
Best quarterfinal: No. 3 Boothbay vs. No. 6 Winthrop. This game offers a glimpse of Western Class C past, present and future. The two schools have had some epic tournament battles in the past. More appear to be on the way since both teams are propelled by some of the top underclassmen in Class C – Boothbay by sophomores Owen Johnson and Pat Norton and freshman Kris Noonan, the Ramblers by the starting backcourt of sophomore Mike Gingras and freshman Sam LeClerc.
The Seahawks swept the regular season series, winning by four and seven points.
Overview: This year’s tournament will showcase a number of contrasts – big (Hall-Dale, Wiscasset) vs. small (pretty much everybody else, young (Boothbay, Winthrop, Traip) vs. (relatively speaking) old (Hall-Dale, Wiscasset, Jay). A number of upsets could be in the offing, but top-seeded Hall-Dale won’t be one of the victims. The Bulldogs just have too much size, talent and incentive.
Prediction: Hall-Dale.
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