AUGUSTA – The Forest Hills boys basketball team didn’t just go on a 3-pointer hot streak in its Class D South quarterfinal win over Pine Tree Academy on Monday afternoon.
The Tigers caught fire from beyond the arc.
The No. 1 Tigers rolled to a 78-36 win over the No. 9 Breakers at the Augusta Civic Center. Forest Hills (16-3) nailed 10 3-pointers, five coming from senior guard Mason Desjardins and four from eighth-grader Maddox Cuddy. Desjardins – the Tigers’ top scorer – finished with a game-high 21 points. Cuddy, in his first tournament game, finished with 16 points.
“We’re happy, it’s a good win,” Desjardins said. “We came out and did what we do. We took care of business and now it’s on to the next round.”
Pine Tree Academy finished 1-15.
Desjardins was efficient for the Tigers, making nearly every 3-pointer he attempted. He scored all of his 21 points in the first half.
“I’m pretty comfortable (shooting at the Civic Center),” Desjardins said. “Our team has played here a whole bunch of times. It’s not our first time in Augusta. Everybody’s pretty comfortable. I think the nerves are starting to calm down and everybody’s playing good right now.”
Cuddy took the open 3-pointer whenever he had the chance. It was a strategy, Cuddy said, that came from Forest Hills head coach Anthony Amero.
“My coach just told me to keep shooting, even if I wasn’t making them,” Cuddy said. “Just keep shooting, keep shooting. My teammates helped me set up (the shots).”
“Maddox, from the middle of the season, has been a part of what we do,” Amero said. “We wanted to get him dialed in, because we’ve had eighth-graders before (for the tournament) and they can get a little nervous. He comes at it honestly, he’s almost ready to chuck it from half court.”
Cuddy also delivered with an unorthodox shooting style, almost pushing the ball toward the hoop, hardly coming off the floor on the jump shot.
“My coach says I need to bring it (above my head) more,” Cuddy said. “I shoot down low. But he (also) said if it works for me, it works for me.”
“He’s one of those kids who was always around the older kids,” Amero said. “Playing in the backyard with his brother (former Forest Hills player Hunter Cuddy) who is almost five years older. He’s played around with the neighborhood kids, so he learned to shoot deep, so he can get the shot off against older kids. We told him, ‘That’s going to ride you through this season, then we’re going to the shop this summer and get you a high school shot. But he can drain it. I think we’ll keep it.”
Desjardins said the Tigers have multiple weapons when needed to make shots.
“We have shooters, (Cuddy) stepped up today,” Desjardins said. “He made like, four or five of them, from deep, too. Braidan (Welch) can shoot the three, Blaine (Nadeau) can shoot the three, too. When you have shooters like that and then Cooper (Daigle) inside, it just paces the floor.”
Both styles worked. The Tigers jumped out of the gate with a 14-0 run and took a 29-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, Forest Hills led 56-20.
A 10-0 run in the third quarter lengthened the lead to 70-25 for the Tigers before slowing down offensively in the fourth.
Sam Batista led Pine Tree Academy with eight points.
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