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WINSLOW — It was the best way the Winslow boys basketball team could finish the regular season.
In a Class B matchup that turned into a slugfest on Thursday night, the Black Raiders found another gear in the fourth quarter to beat Maranacook 66-48.
Winslow has had a successful season, finishing 12-5, and will enter the Class B North playoffs as the No. 7 seed. But Thursday night’s win was important for many reasons.
For starters, had Winslow lost it faced a potential three-hour trip to play Houlton (10-6) in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, the Black Raiders appear poised to host No. 10 Bucksport (6-11) in a prelim game next week.
The victory also gave a needed confidence boost at the right time. Winslow suffered a 66-40 loss to Medomak Valley on Feb. 3, then fell 69-61 to Mount View on Wednesday night.
“We played (Wednesday) night, so it’s always tough to play back-to-back,” Winslow head coach Ken Lindlof said. “We wanted to make sure (Wednesday) night’s loss didn’t carry over. So we started fresh and wanted to honor our seniors (for senior night) with a great effort and emphasize what we do as a team. It wasn’t perfect, but our kids made a hell of an effort. We defended and rebounded well. They made some shots, but we were able to overcome and make enough plays to seal the victory for us.”
The Black Raiders got back on track Thursday night, in a game that saw 10 lead changes. Maranacook made its biggest push in the third quarter, parlaying an 11-0 run into a 35-31 lead. However, Winslow responded with an 11-0 run of its own to take a 42-35 lead. The Raiders then blew things open in the fourth.
“By the start of the fourth quarter, we huddled up and said ‘let’s lock it in on defense,'” said junior forward Jason Reynolds, who scored 18 points and had 15 rebounds. “That’s what is going to win us games right there, if we lock it in on defense. That’s what we did and we ended up with the W, so that’s all that counts.”
“We got into a rhythm offensively,” Lindlof added. “We started out a little sloppy. (Maranacook) presents a lot of problems because they change defenses all the time, man, zone, box-and-one, trap. Everything under the sun. We were able to recognize and attack, we wanted to be in attack mode.”
It was a strong finish to the regular season for the Black Raiders, who now hope to carry momentum into the playoffs.
“Coming back for a win (Thursday, after losing Wednesday) really boosted our confidence,” said senior forward Antoine Akoa, who scored 15 points and had five rebounds. “Going into the playoffs, we hope to have a lot of that.”
Dave Dyer — 621-5640
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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