OAKLAND — Early game struggles have been a recurring theme for the Messalonskee boys basketball team this season. 

Fortunately, so have recoveries — a trend that continued Tuesday as the Eagles claimed one of their biggest wins of 2024-25.

Messalonskee earned a 48-37 victory over Mt. Blue in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A North showdown. The win came as the Eagles overcame a spree of turnovers and defensive struggles in the first quarter to prevail in a battle of regional contenders.

“We’re trying to fix that problem; we haven’t seen a 2-3 zone like the one they played yet, so it took us a while to settle in,” said Messalonskee coach Sam Smith. “We took better care of the basketball, and we turned to a full-court press on defense. We started to dictate things.”

How did they do it?

Well, those lack of turnovers and defensive adjustments helped. After six turnovers in the first quarter, Messalonskee (8-2) turned the ball over just seven times the rest of the game. The Eagles also gave up just 22 points over the final three quarters after Mt. Blue scored 15 in the first.

Rebounding was another factor. The Eagles outrebounded the Cougars 35-23 and limited the visitors to just eight boards in the first half. Parker Reynolds was particularly strong on the boards for Messalonskee, bringing down 12 rebounds.

What does it mean?

The game featured two of the top Class A North teams, with Messalonskee in second place and Mt. Blue (6-4) in third. The meeting was the first between the two since the Eagles beat the Cougars 45-36 in last year’s regional semis.

Messalonskee senior Ty Bernier, who entered the game third in the KVAC in scoring at 19.3 points per game, scored just four points. Off-nights happen even for the best players, and managing to win on a quiet evening for Bernier, Smith said, means a lot for his team’s depth.

“The beauty of this team is that we have four seniors and (sophomore) Sean Achorn (starting), and we have guys off the bench who can score,” Smith said. “It’s good because Ty can have a bad night, and we can still make up for it with what everyone else does.”

Mt. Blue’s Tyler Abell attempts to make a pass while being defended by Messalonskee’s Drake Brunelle. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Key moment

There was not one moment that truly turned the lights out for Mt. Blue, but Messalonskee turning an early deficit into a five-point halftime lead was largely thanks to one player in particular: Ryan Parent.

With Messalonskee trailing 15-9 late in the first quarter, Parent made a 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game heading into the second. He drained three triples in the second quarter — one of which came from nearly 30 feet — and the Eagles never trailed again.

“That 2-3 zone opens up a lot of shots, and my teammates just found me,” Parent said. “We started off a little slow — a lot of turnovers — and then, as the game went on, we started finding the right shots and taking good ones.”

They said it

“I told (Mt. Blue coach Troy Norton) and all of their players after the game, ‘Hey, we’ll see you soon.’ They’re a good team, and they always play us tough. We play them again in a few weeks, and I have no doubt we could see them again after that (in the tournament).” — Sam Smith.

“We knew coming into that they were a big team, but (there were) a lot of missed shots, so that gave me an opportunity to get those boards. … We both have a lot of skilled players. A lot of shots usually go in (for both of us), but not tonight.” — Parker Reynolds.

Stat sheet superiors

Messalonskee: Parent (17 points), Reynolds (10 points, 12 rebounds), Anderson Arbour (nine points), Achorn (six rebounds).

Mt. Blue: Tyler Abell (11 points), Carter Norton (10 points), Evan Drake (seven points, seven rebounds), Nolan Leso (seven points, seven rebounds).

UP NEXT

Messalonskee: at Hampden Academy (6-2), 6:30 p.m., Thursday

Mt. Blue: at Mountain Valley (2-7), 6:30 p.m. Friday