Boys basketball: Brewer dominates Skowhegan in anticipated season opener

Skowhegan's Brayden Saucier defends Brewer's Brock Flagg (32) in the first half of a boys basketball game Friday in Skowhegan. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

SKOWHEGAN — A season-opening matchup between the teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the Class A North boys basketball preseason poll was the perfect chance to make a statement.

Well, a statement was made — but it was the exact opposite of the one the Skowhegan River Hawks had hoped to make to begin the 2022-23 campaign.

Brewer dominated Skowhegan from start to finish Friday evening to notch a 60-37 victory at Skowhegan Area High School. The Witches established a double-digit lead in the first quarter and never let go as the visitors capitalized on an error-strewn performance by the River Hawks.

“Everything went wrong,” said Skowhegan head coach Tom Nadeau. “You name it, we didn’t do it. We couldn’t handle the ball, we couldn’t pass the ball, we couldn’t make shots, and we couldn’t get stops. They’re a good team, and they took advantage.”

After Skowhegan responded to three Brewer points to begin the game with a 5-0 spurt, the Witches (1-0) answered as Brady Saunders made back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup to put the visitors up eight. Evan Nadeau then bookended a pair of Kyle LePage free throws with an and-one and a triple to put Brewer up 21-8 through one quarter of play.

Skowhegan’s Kyle LePage (32) and Adam Savage (34) defend Brewer’s Brady Saunders (13) in the first half of a boys basketball game Friday in Skowhegan. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

The second quarter was much of the same as Saunders hit another pair of threes to help push Brewer’s lead all the way to 19. The Witches led 38-18 at the break after a 5-0 run to end the half, though Skowhegan (0-1) would regain a bit of momentum early in the second half as it cut the lead to 38-23 early.

Unfortunately for Skowhegan, that momentum would be short-lived as Brewer closed out the third quarter on an 11-2 run. The River Hawks would go on a run of its own to cut the deficit back to 15 midway through the fourth, but the comeback attempt fell flat as the Witches held the home team scoreless over the final five minutes.

“We responded a little bit in the second half, but at the end of the day, they really took it to us,” Nadeau said. “(Saunders) got going a bit for them, and you saw what happens when he does that and we make mistakes. Give credit to Brewer because they came ready to play.”

Saunders finished with a game-high 22 points for Brewer, which also got eight points and 10 rebounds from Ryder Goodwin and seven points and four boards from Brock Flagg. LePage finished with 15 points and five rebounds for Skowhegan, and Adam Savage added eight points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Although LePage and Savage had some presence in the paint for Skowhegan with their combined 13 rebounds, Brewer didn’t let the River Hawks dominate in the post. The Witches penetrated the lane and drew shooting fouls routinely in the first half and nearly matched the home team on the boards thanks to Goodwin’s solid rebounding.

“Rebounding and defense is something we harp on, and that’s something that Ryder really takes to heart,” said Brewer head coach Ben Goodwin, who is also Ryder’s father. “He wants to be able to outplay a lot of the top big men in the league, and he did an outstanding job tonight.”

Skowhegan, as Goodwin pointed out, was not exactly at full strength for Friday night’s contest as a result of injuries a few players suffered during football season. Savage was not practicing as recently as last week, and Quintcey McCray and Collin LePage, Kyle’s brother, played only sparingly in the loss.

Nadeau, though, was not buying a few players being banged up as a justification for Skowhegan’s poor performance. Although the River Hawks will almost certainly get healthier as the season progresses, it was all-around sloppiness, not injuries, that plunged them to a season-opening defeat.

“There’s no excuses,” Nadeau said. “We have a group of eight seniors, and there’s no excuses for what happened tonight to happen. We’re better than what we showed tonight, and we have to learn from it and go out and get better.”