Season finale sparks survival instincts for Foxcroft boys basketball

By Ernie Clark
Staff Writer

High school basketball practices were postponed Friday because of bad weather for many teams around the state that have qualified for postseason play.

But for the boys squads from Foxcroft Academy, just having a reason to continue practicing once the snowfall subsides and the roads are cleared is a satisfying feeling secured only through victories in their final regular-season games Thursday night.

“I really thought we were going to make it by a fraction of a point,” said Foxcroft coach Tyler Erickson, whose team moved up to the 11th of 12 available playoff positions in Class B North with an 89-68 victory over Central of Corinth. “I’m not too keen on the Heal points and wasn’t looking into it too deep, but I was pretty confident in telling the kids they’d be in if they won.”

A Foxcroft team ravaged by injuries for much of the season rallied from an 0-6 start to secure its preliminary-round berth by winning three of its last four games, including a buzzer-beating overtime victory over Hermon two nights before the Ponies outscored Central in its finale.

“I feel like I’ve aged 10 years,” said Erickson, who took the Foxcroft coaching post this season after a successful stint at Greenville.

Foxcroft has been during its late surge led by senior forward Hunter Smith, the 2015 Big East Conference player of the year who steadily has been rounding into top form after suffering a dislocated hip while playing football in late August.

Smith scored 25 points against Central despite suffering a late-game ankle injury and has averaged 23.2 points per game over Foxcroft’s last five contests.

Foxcroft (6-12) also got a huge performance against Central from sophomore guard Drew Dankert, who made 10 of his 11 3-point attempts while scoring a game-high 31 points.

“It was one of those nights for Drew,” said Erickson. “Central started out in a 1-3-1 (zone) and Drew shot them out of that. Then they tried some different defenses and Drew really kept us going in the first half.”

Max Santagata, a 6-foot-2 forward, added 16 points in the Central victory, which earned Foxcroft a trip to Aroostook County to face No. 6 Caribou (10-8) in Wednesday’s preliminary round. Game time is 6 p.m.

“All season long I kept telling my guys we had enough talent in this locker room to make a run, and we were blessed with a schedule that has enough points to get us there,” said Erickson, whose team lost to Caribou 49-48 in their only regular-season meeting on Dec. 12. “We didn’t have to win a ton of games, we just had to win the right ones.”