BANGOR — A big blocked shot or a kid who was fouled? Depends on who you were rooting for.
While seemingly half the population of Winslow questioned the call on social media, as usual the officials had the only opinion that mattered.
Cameron Allaire blocked Justin Martin’s potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds and top-ranked Medomak Valley had a 51-48 victory over No. 2 Winslow in the Eastern B boys basketball final at the Cross Insurance Center.
The sequence is one that will be remembered by its participants for quite some time. Winslow was trailing by three and, after a timeout, the Black Raiders had to travel the length of the court with 6.4 seconds left. Martin, who already had 28 points and had made two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, got a look at a straight-on three from about 30 feet out. Medomak’s Allaire tipped Martin’s shot, and Winslow’s Dylan Hutchinson caught the ball in mid-air and threw it at the basket, but the shot went off the backboard as time expired.
Had Allaire been called for the foul, Martin would have had three foul shots with time still on the clock. Many, including Winslow coach Jared Browne, felt that should have been the case.
“I’m trying not to get myself in trouble here. …,” Browne began. “We got the shot that we wanted. I thought that there was some contact. But not much we can do at this point.
“There’s a lot we can control and can’t control. We can’t control that. What we could control is getting a good shot off, and I thought we did get a good shot off.”
On the other side, Allaire felt it was a clean block.
“Well, they didn’t call it,” Allaire said. “I don’t think it was a foul. I just jumped up and got tips on it, and there wasn’t any time for them to do anything after that. Luckily, they didn’t call a foul and we won it.”
Allaire, a 6-foot-6 sophomore center, had a huge role in putting Medomak in its advantageous position in the final seconds. Early in the fourth quarter, after a floater by Josh Kervin and a 3-pointer by Martin, Winslow had its largest lead at 41-35. Midway through the quarter, the Black Raiders still led 46-41, but Nick DePatsy (16 points) scored inside to make it a three-point game.
“DePatsy made some great plays in the fourth quarter,” Browne said. “They did a great job keeping attacking us. They didn’t back down either. They got down. They could’ve quit, but there’s some tough kids in their locker room, too. They wanted to win just as badly as we did.”
Allaire hadn’t made a field goal all game, but he followed a missed three by DePatsy with a putback to make it 46-45 with 1:55 remaining. After a Winslow turnover, Allaire stuck a turnaround in the lane to give Medomak the lead for good at 47-46 with 1:13 to go.
The Raiders took their time on their next possession, but it ended when Colby Robertson’s jump-stop in traffic was ruled a travel — a decision that left Robertson open-mouthed in shock. After a breakaway layup by Zach Starr, Robertson made two free throws, and Medomak was up 49-48 with just 22.5 seconds left.
Allaire made one of two free throws, but the rebound went off Winslow and out of bounds. Micah Williamson (18 points) then made one of two at the line, setting up the final possession.
“We played good defense and made some foul shots, and that’s what it came down to,” Allaire said. “That block at the end, everyone looks at that, but we kept it close the whole game, and stopped them at the end defensively. That’s what won it for us.”
While DePatsy is a star and scored all nine of Medomak’s points in the first quarter, he had seven points the rest of the way thanks to the defense of Martin and Trenton Bouchard. After Williamson went off for 10 points in the second quarter, Bouchard also helped hold him in check.
Winslow finishes the season 18-3. The Raiders remained one of the top teams in Class B all winter, despite having a starter dismissed from the team at midseason.
“With all that we’ve overcome this year — a lot of adversity — our kids really came together as a team,” Browne said. “Like I told them, this is my favorite team that I’ve ever coached. I wouldn’t want to coach anybody else. I want to keep coaching them.
“Sadly, I can’t, because the seniors are going to graduate, but I’m really proud of how they came together as team and represented our school and our community so well.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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