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York’s Lukas Bouchard drives to the basket while being defended by Medomak Valley’s Mason Nguyen. Bouchard scored 20 points in the Wildcats’ 50-40 win over Medomak Valley in the Class B South final. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald The York boys basketball team set the game back 40 years Friday afternoon, in the most refreshing and unexpected way possible.
In their 50-40 win over Medomak Valley in the Class B South file, the Wildcats did not make a 3-pointer. Heck, York only attempted three of the long-range shots that have become such a huge part of the game. After the game, when told his team did something that maybe hasn’t been done in a Maine high school regional final since the late 1980s, York coach Matt Regan’s eyes got big.
Like he’d just been told he won the lottery. “Really? Wow. I’m surprised by that stat, but all season long, we’ve talked about how our go-to is putting pressure on the rim.
Getting the points in the paint. Trying to get the easy basket,” Regan said. In the decades since the 3-pointer was introduced to the high school game in the mid-80s, it’s become a bigger and bigger part of virtually every team’s offensive strategy.
The mid-range jumper is practically extinct. Why put up a shot from 15 feet when you can pop it from a little farther out and get an extra point from the effort? Like their coach, York guards Ryan Cummins and Reece MacDonald were surprised at first. Once they digested the quirky stat, it made sense.
The Portland Expo isn’t the best place to shoot from the perimeter. The rims seem to hang in midair, unlike the typical high school gym, where a wall directly behind the basket helps the shooter’s depth perception. “We have a lot of great shooters, but we understand being in this place multiple times, a lot of those threes that go in for us in the regular season, they just don’t fall here,” said MacDonald, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Related More sports columns by Travis Lazarczyk This game was the battle between undefeated teams basketball fans around the state anticipated since early January, when it apparent both York and Medomak Valley were going to continue rolling through their respective conferences. It’s not uncommon to get one undefeated team in the regional tournament. Getting two is like a sasquatch sighting.
You remember it when it happens. Rather than turn the game into a 3-point shooting contest, both teams made it a key component of the game plan to attack the basket. Medomak Valley coach Nick DePatsy also pointed out that York’s quickness helped the Wildcats close out on his outside shooters, leaving them few open 3-point looks.
The Panthers made just one three in the game, a Mason Mguyen shot late in the second quarter that gave Medomak Valley a brief 20-18 lead. It’s not that the Wildcats can’t shoot threes. They made three of them in Tuesday’s 57-49 win over Spruce Mountain in the semis.
York sank four 3-pointers in last week’s 76-37 win over Cape Elizabeth in the quarterfinals. In a 62-40 win over Yarmouth late in the regular season, the Wildcats sank six 3-pointers. “We do shoot it, but a lot of our offense is to get out in transition and beat kids to the basket.
When both teams are 20-0, you do what you do. You do what you’ve done all season, and I thought what we’ve done all season, the kids executed and did it again,” Regan said. “In practice or in the gym, they love to chuck.
They all think they’re Steph Curry. I think they know we’ve got that speed, that athleticism, big guys, so we try to get some points in the paint.” Ryan Cummins of York drives to the basket as Medomak Valley’s Luke Cheesman defends.
Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald It helps that the Wildcats have size for days. Starters Lukas Bouchard and Lucas Ketchum are both 6-foot-6, as is sophomore Callum Forbes, who came off the bench all season. Friday afternoon, Bouchard was a big factor in York’s attack, scoring 20 points, all on shots taken within a few feet of the rim.
“We can definitely shoot the ball, we just didn’t need to a lot. If we can get to the basket and try to get their better players in foul trouble, that’s a win-win,” said Cummins, who scored seven of his nine points in the first quarter by weaving his way into the paint to get a layup or a free throw. Get out and run and score in transition.
That was York’s plan, and the Wildcats executed it nearly perfectly. “We went to the basket, we went controlled, and we made the right decision in going up with it or kick it out,” MacDonald said. Maybe we’re seeing the start of a trend here.
In the Class A South semifinals Wednesday, Falmouth’s Davis Mann scored 39 points in a 63-36 win over Fryeburg. Forget making a three, Mann didn’t even attempt one. Like York against Medomak Valley, Mann drove into the paint, making 15 of 23 shots to go with his 9 for 9 effort at the free-throw line.
Friday afternoon, York played basketball almost like the 3-point lines didn’t exist. And it was a blast. York boys basketball wins battle of unbeatens, claims Class B South title Comments are no longer available on this story Send questions/comments to the editors.
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