Besides being guaranteed as good a night’s sleep as their opponent, Oxford Hills enjoyed the two-day delay for the Eastern Class A final in another way.
“It works out for us because at least we’re going to get a chance to prepare for a team that we haven’t seen play,” Vikings coach Scott Graffam said.
Had Saturday’s snowstorm not forced the Maine Principals’ Association to postpone the regional championship to tonight at 8:45, Oxford Hills would have faced a quick turnaround less than 24 hours after eliminating No. 6 Gardiner in Friday night’s semifinals. Considering that it’s roughly a 250-mile round trip from the South Paris school to Bangor Auditorium, the Vikings would have been more sleep deprived than their counterparts from Hampden Academy, which can be reached quicker by foot from the Aud than Oxford Hills by bus.
Then again, sleep might still be an issue for both coaches, who have to gameplan for talented opponents they haven’t played this year. Graffam and Hampden’s Russ Bartlett have plenty of things to keep them awake late at night.
After three years of offensive struggles at “the Mecca,” the second-seeded Vikings (17-3) believe their 55-39 semifinal win over Gardiner might have finally gotten them over the hump. They shot a modest 35 percent for the game, but the flow and the aggressiveness of their offense was much more reminiscent of their high-octane attack that helped propel them to the KVAC championship.
No one seemed more determined to get the Vikings out of their funk than KVAC Player of the Year Matt McDonnell, who after scoring just eight points in their quarterfinal against Cony, torched Gardiner for 23 points on 50 percent shooting.
“He obviously is my number one concern right now,” Bartlett said of McDonnell.
McDonnell spearheads a perimeter shooting team that could go a long way in neutralizing 6-10 Hampden center Jordan Cook’s intimidating presence on the defensive end. Leif and Thomas Kothe, Josh Powell and Corey Saunders may all have to help McDonnell create offense from the outside because Cook’s shot-blocking presence will make it difficult for them to slash through the lane or convert second chances on the offensive boards for points.
As many second chances as Cook takes away at the defensive end, he gives the ninth-seeded Broncos (17-4) almost as many at the offensive end. The junior went over the top of Brewer rebounders for several tip-ins in their 55-34 semifinal victory.
While making it all the way to the regional final has been anything but boring for the Vikings, certain elements of it have been repetitive, particularly defensively. They made defending the post a priority in the first two games of the tournament, double and triple-teaming Cony and Gardiner’s top scorers down low, and will have to do it again tonight.
“We had to play that way against (Doug) Joerrs from Cony and against (Sean) McNally (for Gardiner), so it really isn’t a big change for us,” Graffam said. “With Hampden, we can just defend the same way.”
“We see that every night,” Bartlett said. “When people double the post, I tell the kids that we get to play four-on-three. Jordan is very unselfish. He has a good feel of when the double-team is there and distributing the ball.”
Cook will have to exploit the Vikings’ man-to-man like he did Brewer’s zone defense by finding open jump-shooters, and guards Jay Uhrin and Blaine Meehan, who scored 12 points apiece in the semis, will have to knock down those shots.
That may be easier said than done against a Viking defense that since a January loss to Cony has held all but one opponent under 50 points, including an average of 32.5 ppg in the tournament.
Comments are no longer available on this story