Wiscasset dug themselves into a big hole early and were unable to dig out in their 53-43 loss to Hall-Dale Monday night in the West Class C quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center. The Bulldogs have been a thorn in the Redskins’ sides all season, having beaten them twice, the first time in their MVC opener and the second midway through the season by three points.
Wiscasset starters Mason Brewer and Cody Griffin were in foul trouble early, and both fouled out in the 4th period. Wiscasset was called for 17 fouls and Hall-Dale 14. The two teams split rebounding action evenly with 28 boards each. Wiscasset was led by Mason Brewer with 12 rebounds, and Hall-Dale by Damien Melnicove with 16.
Hall-Dale led from the opening basket, and jumped out to a 20-10 1st quarter lead. A sluggish 2nd period saw Wiscasset score four and Hall-Dale 9 to take a 29-14 lead into the break. The Bulldogs scored the opening hoop of the 3rd frame to extend their lead to 17.
Wiscasset rallied, lighting up the scoreboard on a 16-3 run to pull within four with a little over two minutes to go in the quarter. Jordan Jones hit two big three’s, Cody Griffin netted eight points and Devin Grover two in the rally. Ashton Benn assisted on four of the seven Redskin baskets.
Ryan Leach put the Bulldogs up by six, before Jordan Jones dribbled coast to coast to again make it a four-point game. Leach ended the 3rd period with a big three-pointer to give Hall-Dale a 39-32 lead at the end of three.
The Bulldogs opened the final period with a 9-2 run to build a 14-point cushion and put the game away.
Scoring for Wiscasset were Griffin 14 (4R,3B,2S), Benn 11 (3R,1S, 2 charges, 5A), Jordan Jones 8 (2R,2S,1A), Brewer 4 (12R,2A), Devin Grover 2, Cody Verrill 2, and Jay Lamoureux 2 (3R,1A).
Scoring for Hall-Dale were Leach 20, Zach Plummer 12 (3R,3S), Melnicove 10 (16R), Brandon Gilbert 4 (4S), Tyler French 4, Nick Bickford 2, and Sam Estes 1 (5R,1B).
