AUGUSTA — These weren’t the same Cony Rams the Messalonskee boys basketball team breezed past twice earlier this year.

The Rams had their head coach, who had missed nearly half of the regular season; they were at full strength, something that had been in doubt; they chased every loose ball as if their lives depended on it, turned the ball over just three times and shot it well.

The outcome, though? The same as the others. Messalonskee put forth a strong game of its own, answering everything a hardy Cony squad threw at it in a 68-56 victory over the Rams in Saturday’s Class A North quarterfinal showdown at the Augusta Civic Center.

“We’ve game-planned for 10 days, but we know that this is a different environment in this (arena) and in this tournament,” said Messalonskee head coach Sam Smith. “Both teams were pretty jacked up, and we knew we had to stay consistent through it, and I thought we did.

Merrick Smith had 22 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs, for Messalonskee, which advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals against either Mt. Blue or Lawrence. The Eagles also got 17 points from Sam Dube and 14 from Ty Bernier. Parker Morin scored 18 points for Cony, which got 13 from Parker Sergent.

Smith got off to a hot start for third-ranked Messalonskee (15-4) as he scored the team’s first nine points to put the Eagles in front 9-4 within three minutes. That helped pace Messalonskee to a 16-9 lead after one as a Dube 3-pointer with 30 seconds left in the period put the Eagles up three possessions.

“Last time we played Cony, we won (by 24), but they went up 10-0 against us early that game,” Merrick Smith said. “We had those 10 days to prepare for this game, and I knew it was important to come out in the first few minutes and make sure we took advantage early, so I kind of took it into my hands.”

Sixth-ranked Cony (7-12) fought back to tie the game at 20 midway with 4:37 to play in the half, but the rest of the half belonged to Messalonskee. The Eagles outscored the Rams 17-6 before a desperation 3-pointer from Cony’s Alex Fournier at the buzzer made it a 37-29 game at the break.

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Cony pulled within five twice early in the second half, but with Messalonskee leading 43-38 with 4:55 left in the third quarter, the Eagles mounted a 14-1 run to end the period. The Rams fought back again in the fourth, but a Dube 3 with two minutes left that put Messalonskee back up 10 proved to be the dagger.

“In practice, we do a lot of situational stuff and focus on making those shots in those situations, so it felt normal to me,” said Dube, who finished with three 3-pointers. “We knew everyone was 0-0 coming into the tournament and that we had to step it up, and we made some big shots and played hard on defense.”

Messalonskee center Merrick Smith, left, has his shot blocked by Cony’s Jordan Benedict during a Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal game Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The game marked the first time since Jan. 15 that Cony head coach Isaiah Brathwaite was back on the sidelines for the Rams. He suffered a torn patella tendon coaching middle school players through a layup line Jan. 14, and although he coached the following day, surgery later in the week sidelined him for eight games.

Cony also had its full lineup available, something that seemed far from a given after Morin and Jordan Benedict suffered injuries in the Rams’ regular season finale against Gardiner. Those players excelled for Cony with Morin hitting big shots en route to his 18 points and Benedict adding 11 of his own.

“It was really good to be back to be with the guys and have one more fight with them,” Brathwaite. “Our guys stuck to the game plan, stayed the course and gave it everything we got, and I loved it. Unfortunately, you just can’t teach height, and that’s where they had us in a couple situations.”

Messalonskee certainly did have the edge in that department with Smith riding his size advantage to a big first half (17 points, 10 rebounds). The 6-foot-9 junior threw down two dunks in the first half, and his length took away some shots for Cony while also forcing them into some difficult looks down the stretch.

“I think what really pushed us over the edge was our ability to stop them and force them to take those tough shots,” Smith said. “They still made some of those shots, so credit to them, but we were playing good defense, and offensively, we were good in transition; our defense turned into offense.”

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