Panthers Tamed By Yarmouth in Class B South Championship Yarmouth 63 - Medomak 58

The Medomak Valley boys basketball team lost 63-58 to Yarmouth in the Class B South championship game on Friday, Feb. 20 at the Portland Expo.

The No. 2 seed Panthers fell behind early and chased the No. 4 Clippers the rest of the way. The Panthers scored a whopping 29 points in the fourth quarter, matching what they scored in the first three quarters, but it still was not enough to chase down the Clippers.

The even-keeled Clippers calmly avenged a 69-36 rout by the Panthers earlier this season on Dec. 9 in Waldoboro.

Yarmouth jumped out to an 18-15 advantage after the first quarter then held the high-octane Panthers offense to six points in the second frame as they built their lead to 29 21 at halftime. The Clippers continued to stifle the Medomak offense in the third quarter while minimizing their own mistakes and turnovers. Heading into the final stanza, the score was 41-29 in favor of Yarmouth.

“We couldn’t get anything going, really, for a while. They sagged inside, which we knew they would do to defend (Kollin) Donlin,” said Panthers coach Nick DePatsy. “We just didn’t move the ball as well as we should have to draw them out. Credit their defense, they defended us well and kept us off balance.”

The Panthers came out flying in the fourth quarter, scoring the first seven points to get the Medomak crowd back into the game. Yarmouth seemed undaunted and reeled off a seven-point run of their own to boost their lead back to 12 points, 48-36.

“At the end, we started opening up, running and hitting some shots,” said DePatsy. “Early on, they kept us from running, and did a good job keeping our transition game down.”

Behind the hot shooting of Mason Nguyen, who led all scorers with 30 points in the game, Medomak rallied to close the gap to three points 58-55 with 40 seconds remaining. Sophomore Carter Jackson made a major impact during the rally with two steals and six points in transition as the Panthers’ employed a full-court press that created some panic among the poised Yarmouth team.

The score was 59-55 when the Panthers had one last solid chance to narrow the gap to one, but Micah Fagonde’s 3-pointer banged off the rim. Yarmouth collected the rebound and held off Medomak from there. Owen Oranellas helped seal the win for the Clippers, making three of four free throws in the final 27 seconds.

“Yarmouth is a smart team, and they kept their composure,” said DePatsy. “They know how to play, and they know how to win. They win in soccer every single year and a lot of those kids play.”

The Panthers finished the season with a 17-4 record. DePatsy said that the team exceeded expectations by making it to the regional final.

“We had a great season, and I’m very proud of them,” said DePatsy. “No one expected us to be here, and it just did not fall our way today.”

In addition to 30 points from Nguyen, the Panthers received scoring from Kollin Donlin 10 (8R, 4A, 3S, 1B), Jackson 8 (1R, 2S), Fagonde 5 (1R, 2A, 1S), Landon Morrison 4 (2R), and Luke Cheesman 1 (1R, 1A, 1S). Owen Dostie had four rebounds, two assists, and four steals.

Ian Lawrence and Adam Maxwell each tallied 18 points to lead the Clippers, who improved to 17-4 with the win. Also scoring for Yarmouth were Matt LeBlanc 11, Owen Oranellas 9, Evan Oranellas 6, and Marshall Rogers 1.

The Yarmouth squad advanced to play Gardiner in the state championship game at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Here are some bonus photos from the game:

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