Coach Dwayne Carter gives his team some advice during a timeout on February 12. By Monique Labbe
Blue Hill—The George Stevens Academy Eagles basketball team took a 79-65 Class C North preliminary win over Central on February 12 to continue the hunt for their fourth-straight Class C State championship gold ball.
The Eagles were firing on all cylinders early in the game, with senior Reece Dannenberg nailing four of his six three pointers in the first quarter. Junior Caden Mattson drained two from behind the arc and senior Isaac Wardwell contributed a long-range shot to cap off a 27 point quarter to give the Eagles a seven point lead.
The second quarter came with more challenges for the team. After scoring the first two points to open the quarter, Central went on an 8-0 run with impressive shooting of their own to cut the GSA lead to just one. The Eagles managed to settle in, and took a 38-30 lead into halftime.
Senior Percy Zentz hands the ball off to the wing after being stopped by a Central defender during the team’s prelim game February 12 in Blue Hill. By Monique Labbe
The team dominated the second half, despite a handful of turnovers that led to points for Central on the other end. Coach Dwayne Carter said the team’s performance was not great overall, but the win was the most important thing.
“We wanted to get back to Bangor, and we did that,” he said. “We made a lot of poor mistakes in that game, but our shooting was good and we were able to turn the ball over quite a bit and capitalize on offense.”
Wardwell lead all scorers with 26 points, while Dannenberg contributed 24, 18 of which came from behind the arc. Mattson and senior Percy Zentz recorded 13 and 10 points, respectively.
The game plan going into the prelim was to turn defense into offense, something the Eagles were able to do well overall. It was only the third time all season a team was able to score over 50 points against them.
The team, now 16-3, advances to a Class C quarterfinal contest against Calais, who upset Fort Kent in The County by five in their prelim match up. GSA has played the team twice this season, winning both games by a sizable margin.
“We know Calais, we know their personality and how they play. I think we’re pretty confident going in,” said Carter.
The game is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 19 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The starting five for the Eagles prelim against Central on February 12 included senior Isaac Wardwell, left, sophomore Andrew Szwez, senior Reece Dannenberg, junior Caden Mattson and senior Percy Zentz. By Monique Labbe
Senior Reece Dannenberg defends a shot during the Eagles prelim game against Central on February 12 in Blue Hill. By Monique Labbe