By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – Hall-Dale ended its 31-year Western Class C title drought Saturday with defense, defense and more defense.

The top-seeded Bulldogs contained Wiscasset’s ticking time bomb, Conrad Griffin, and virtually shut down the rest of the second-seeded Redskins on their way to a 54-42 win at the Augusta Civic Center for their first regional championship since 1974.

“There’s my dad,” said Hall-Dale senior Ben Laflin, pointing to the proud parents assembled courtside waiting patiently to congratulate their sons. “There’s Matt (Wheelock’s) dad, and that’s Jack (Leet’s) dad. Ever since sixth grade, they were waiting for this day.”

It was worth the wait for the elder Laflin, Wheelock and Leet, as their sons led the Bulldogs (20-1) with 15, 17 and 11 points respectively. The 6-foot-9 Wheelock added seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Hall-Dale never trailed beyond a 5-4 deficit midway through the first period. It allowed Wiscasset (16-5) to hang around for most of the game but never lost control. The Bulldogs led by two after one quarter and three at the half, then tightened the noose in the third quarter behind some excellent defense by Jon Hill (six points, 11 rebounds, four steals, two blocks), who made any Redskin who entered the paint pay by either stripping them of the ball or blocking their shot.

“Jon gets himself going a little too much sometimes and starts reaching, but as far as block positioning, offense, defense and rebounding, he’s about as good as I’ve seen, (in Class) B, C or D,” said Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow.

Hall-Dale opened a 38-30 lead after three, and from there it was just a matter of keeping Griffin from going off. The two-time MVC player of the year finished with a game-high 23 points, but after a 10-point first quarter, he was unable to take over the game as he had in the semifinals against Boothbay when he scored 16 points in the final four-plus minutes.

“That was not happening on me, I’ll tell you that,” said Laflin, who drew the assignment of covering Griffin for much of the game. “I just kept a hand in his face and tried to make him shoot from the blue line or halfcourt instead of the 3-point arc where he’s comfortable.”