READFIELD — The bad news for the Black Bears? They missed more than 40 shot attempts Tuesday night.
The good news? It didn’t stop them from draining a season-high 90 points.
Led by a game-high 21 from junior Brayden St. Pierre, the Maranacook boys basketball team rolled to a 90-49 win over Old Orchard Beach in a cross-class South region showdown. Senior Chris Reid added 19 points in the victory.
“Most of the time it’s ‘Take the first good look,’ but sometimes we try and get it inside if we’re working on set things,” said St. Pierre, who highlighted a 33-4 Maranacook run to begin the game with three consecutive 3-pointers from the left wing in a span of 43 seconds early in the second quarter. “But most of the time, it’s just ‘If you’re open, shoot the ball and play comfortable.’ … I really like where we’re at.”
St. Pierre said that particular spot on the floor isn’t necessarily his sweet spot — but it might as well have been.
“I guess it just was tonight,” St. Pierre said. “I don’t know if I really have a sweet spot, I just kind of catch it and shoot from wherever. It doesn’t matter.”
The Black Bears shot 44.7 percent from the floor (34 of 76) and improved to 5-4 on the season, snapping the Seagulls’ seven-game winning streak. After an 0-2 start to the season, Maranacook has now won five of its last seven.
“It shows how much better we’ve gotten,” Maranacook coach Travis Magnusson said. “These guys beat Waynflete, we played Waynflete in the preseason and lost by two, and then to come out and score 90 in a win like this over them — it’s just another big win for us.
“We’re really happy with our first half of the season. We feel like things are going really well.”
Maranacook’s Chris Reid gets a shot blocked by Old Orchard Beach’s Rocky Delisle during a boys basketball game Tuesday in Readfield. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
Maranacook’s bevy of offensive options — from beyond the arc, in the low post and with cutters slashing through from every direction — took a bit of the shine off a stellar first-half defensive effort against Old Orchard (7-2).
The Gulls managed just a single point in the opening quarter, via a Landon Johnson free throw with 1:03 remaining, and didn’t connect on a field goal until early in the second period when James Erickson dropped a trey from the right side.
Maranacook had a 43-10 lead at halftime, due in large part to 11 OOB turnovers in the first two quarters and forcing the Gulls into a pace they didn’t look comfortable playing.
“That was just great energy, especially at the start,” said Maranacook senior Tyler Hreben. “We forced five or six turnovers right at the beginning of the game, and that was huge. It kind of deflated them.”
Old Orchard was better in the second half. Johnson finished with a team-high 19 points, while Ricky Delisle hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter as part of a 14-point effort — all after halftime.
“We really held them and gave them no chance to get back in it,” Hreben said.
There was no let up when the Black Bears went to the bench. Reid’s pair of easy buckets in less than a minute opened an 80-36 lead with 5:39 left in the final quarter, and Magnusson gave his top of the rotation guys the rest of the night off from there.
Jacob McLaughlin came off the bench and finished with 12 points, all but two in the second half.
Maranacook finished with nine 3-pointers, but also plenty of easy transition layups and open looks in the paint.
Quick movement and the ball rarely touching the floor opened up enough options that 10 different Black Bears registered points in the win.
“I think it’s an easier style of basketball to play, because no one knows exactly what we’re going to do,” St. Pierre said. “We’re not just going to shoot 3s. We’re not going to just go inside. We can cut from different places, and nobody really has a set (defensive) play they can run against us that’s going to stop that.”
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