By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Coaches and some players from a half-dozen Western Class C teams walked into Callahan Family Gymnasium Friday night to get a scouting report on either Traip or St. Dom’s, or both, for the upcoming tournament.

Everyone should have walked out with a very thorough evaluation.

The Saints squandered a 14-point lead in the final two-plus minutes of regulation, then outlasted a tired and undermanned Traip squad in overtime to pick up a big 51-46 win in their season finale.

“We’ve only beaten two or three teams in the last two years, Sacopee Valley and Waynflete and Old Orchard Beach, and I think we just got a little excited (down the stretch) and Traip made some shots,” said Saints coach Dan Leland. “I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but I was almost happier to win it overtime because we had to dig down and put that adversity aside.”

Joe Bonneau had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Saints (8-10). Justin Richardson also had 16 points. Andre Plummer led the Rangers with 13 points and four steals, while Isaiah Plummer added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Traip (9-9) was missing two starters and head coach Jeremy Paul because of ejections during last week’s loss to North Yarmouth Academy.

The absences were evident as the Rangers shot just 19 percent from the floor through the first three quarters. Combined with some excellent interior defense by the Saints’ Andy Allen (seven blocks, seven rebounds) and Billy Colasante (two blocks, nine rebounds), St. Dom’s built a 31-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We struggled all night to put the ball in the basket,” said acting head coach Shane Hutchings. “We got the looks we wanted. St. Dom’s did a good job contesting our shots. I think in the second half you saw our kids get a little more aggressive taking it to the hole.”

Bonneau scored eight of the Saints’ first 10 points of the fourth period to make it 41-27 with around three minutes left. But then Traip turned up the pressure with its full-court trap to go on a 15-1 run.

“They’re so athletic. That’s what we were worried about the whole time was containing them, because I didn’t think they were a great jump-shooting team,” Leland said.

Three-point plays by the Plummer brothers and a 3-point shot by Connor Kuehl quickly cut the St. Dom’s lead to five with 1:27 to go. The Rangers’ press then forced a 10-second violation, and Andre Plummer’s ensuing fadeaway jumper from the low block made it 41-38. Andrew Gilbert (five points, 10 rebounds) made one-of-two from the line to make it a four-point game, then Matt Downs cut that in half by making a pair of free throws with 33 seconds left.

The Saints finally broke the press and had a chance to put the game away, but Gilbert’s lay-up attempt rolled out and into Traip’s possession. The Rangers then tried to win the game with a 3-point attempt from the left corner. It was long, but Kuehl was there to collect the cleanup rebound and put it back in to tie it with two-tenths of a second left in regulation.

St. Dom’s scored the first six points of overtime, with Richardson scoring the only field goal. Andre Plummer fouled out midway through the extra session, leaving Isaiah to score all of Traip’s points. But the Saints converted 7-of-12 from the charity stripe to prevent another comeback.