AUGUSTA — Whether setting up in the halfcourt or running in transition down the length of the floor, the Brewer boys basketball team had all the answers in the Class A North quarterfinals Saturday evening.
Aaron Newcomb scored 20 points, four Brewer players cracked double figures, and the second-seeded Witches rolled past No. 7 Lawrence 72-46 at the Augusta Civic Center.
Brady Saunders and Brock Flagg added 13 points, while Colby Smith scored 10 for Brewer (17-2), which defeated Lawrence (7-13) by 34 and 33 points during the regular season and then was just as impressive on the tournament floor.
“We were solid. We came out and just tried to focus on defense first, and the offense would flow,” Newcomb said. “There’s definitely some pressure, and some nerves that come into it. But you just get out there and (start) playing our brand of basketball.”
That brand, Lawrence coach Jason Pellerin noted, isn’t easy to stop.
“They’ve been running the same system since they were in, like, sixth grade,” said Pellerin, whose team was led by 17 points from Conner Nutting and got nine from Andrew Trombley. “I think you could blindfold them and they just know where to go with the ball. They play hard, they play physical and they are an excellent, excellent offensive team.”
As the Witches showed, they can be dangerous in different styles. Brewer hit four 3-pointers in the first half en route to a 41-25 lead, using its top-notch ball movement to free up its dangerous shooters. The Witches were also deadly in transition, burning the Bulldogs over and over by turning rebounds and steals into fast break finishes the other way.
“We like to get out and run, don’t even let teams get set up defensively,” Newcomb said. “Just get out there on the break and get some buckets.”
“Running is a big part of practice,” Flagg said. “We don’t have as much size as a lot of other teams in Class A, so we’ve really got to work on getting up the court and using that to our advantage.”
Lawrence’s Cade Scott (1) drives to the basket between the defense of Brewer’s Colby Smith (4) and Brady Saunders (13) during the Class A North boys basketball quarterfinals Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
With Brewer’s transition game on point, baskets came from everyone on the floor.
“That’s what I love about this team,” Flagg said. “One through eight, anybody can go for 20 any given night.”
“I think that’s what’s helped us throughout the season,” Brewer coach Ben Goodwin said. “The way we play, and we play so unselfish, we have two or three guys in double figure scoring each night. It’s either get it up and down the court, or we can knock down some threes. It’s a good mixture.”
Whenever Lawrence started to sniff any momentum, Brewer responded. A basket by Nutting made it 12-8 late in the first, but Brewer went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter. When Noah Lambert hit a three to cut the gap to 31-18 midway through the second, Newcomb came right back with a three on the next possession.
Finally, after Nutting made a pair of free throws with 6:10 left in the third to make it 45-29, the Witches scored the next 10 points — six on the fast break — to effectively bury the Bulldogs.
“You literally have to have perfect possessions, and we didn’t have that. Not for a lack of effort, and not for a lack of trying,” Pellerin said. “They’re very, very good at what they do. They run the dribble-drive as well as I’ve ever seen it run in my coaching career.”
The win sets Brewer up with No. 3 Skowhegan, which defeated No. 6 Mt. Blue 67-33 and which beat Brewer in overtime the last time the teams played.
“I think it’s great,” Goodwin said. “We look forward to playing them again. We beat them at our place, they beat us at their place, so for us to get another rematch, I think it’s going to be an outstanding game.”
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