Central’s second-half surge beats PCHS
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR — Facing a familiar foe in the postseason can often be a basketball coach’s best friend, or worst nightmare, depending on the outcome.
Such was the case for Central and Piscataquis Community High School as the rivals met for the third time this season.
No. 4 Central of East Corinth (14-5) used a strong second-half surge to break open a tight contest against No. 5 Piscataquis to notch a 47-37 Class C quarterfinal victory Feb. 17 at the Cross Insurance Center.
The Pirates of Guilford finish with a 15-4 record, with three of those four losses coming against Central.
The two squads met twice during the regular season, with Central winning both — 62-57 on Dec. 17 in Guilford and 46-42 on Jan. 30 in Corinth
Central junior Andrew Prescott led all players with 14 points, including making six of seven free throws in the final quarter, earning Darling’s/BDN Player of the Game honors. Junior Kyle Ham added 10 points, while sophomore Caleb Shaw and senior Jordn Smith each had eight.
For Piscataquis, senior Jeremy Bell led the way with nine points, while senior Tristan French added eight.
“We knew their size was going to give us some problems defensively and it happened again today,” Piscataquis coach Jamie Russell said. “They alter a lot of things. When we played at Central, we didn’t get to the free throw line, and the same thing happened here today.”
Piscataquis made just one of eight free throw attempts, while Central converted 13 of 17 foul shots, with the bulk of those shots coming in the fourth quarter as the Pirates were forced to foul to stop the clock.
“We have a couple of guards who pride themselves on their free throw shooting,” Central coach Curt Davis said. “They spend a lot of time working on that on their own, so we know if we have a little bit of a lead, we have a real good shot at the end.”
The Red Devils were exceptional from the line in the final quarter as Shaw and Prescott combined to make 10 of 11 shots.