SOUTH CHINA — Down two points at the half, the Messalonskee High School boys basketball team turned it up at both ends of the floor in the third quarter, pulling away for a 50-40 win over Erskine Academy.
Nick Barber’s layup with four seconds left in the first half sent Erskine (0-3) to the break with a 22-20 lead, but a 15-0 Messalonskee (3-0) run in the third quarter swiped all the momentum. A Matt Parent 3-pointer gave Messalonskee a 34-23 lead with 3:25 left in the half, and Parent his a 15-foot jumper 10 seconds later off an Erskine turnover. Messalonskee capitalized on 11 third quarter turnovers by Erskine, and Parent scored eight of his game-high 10 points in the second half.
Erskine cut Messalonskee’s lead to five, 45-40, on a pair of Liam Perfetto foul shots with just over four minutes to play in the game, but Messalonskee scored the final five points of the game to take the win. Neither team shot well from the line. Messalonskee made just 12 of 27 free throws, while Erskine was 13 of 25 at the line.
Erskine built an early 9-3 lead, but Messalonskee rallied and tied the game by the end of the first quarter. Tucker Charles added nine points for Messalonskee, while Cole St. Peter added eight.
Nick Hayden led Erskine with nine points. Nick Barber chipped in eight.
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