FREEPORT — Pine Tree Academy is trying to ride a devastating full-court defensive press and a solid inside-outside game to the top seeding in the Western Class D tournament.
The Breakers, who finish the regular season Saturday night in Bingham with a game against Valley, ran their record to 16-1 Thursday night with an extremely convincing 43-16 win against Hyde, which came into the game as the region’s third-ranked team.
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Pine Tree Academy built a 35-12 lead in the first half by forcing 21 turnovers and holding the Phoenix to 4-for-19 shooting during the first 16 minutes.
Alex Goodman, a 5-foot-9 freshman point guard, led the Breakers with 15 points, while Kim Emerson, a 6-2 senior center, followed with 12.
Goodman, who averaged more than 17 points per game last season to help Pine Tree Academy reach the semifinals of the regional tournament at the Augusta Civic Center, didn’t score in the second half.
The Breakers also stopped pressing full court defensively and worked on their half-court offense.
“If we have a workable lead, then I like to work on stuff that we’re not good at it,” Pine Tree Coach Josh Dayon said. “We run the best (when) pressing and in transition. If I could run that the whole game in a tough game, I would, but when the gap widens I work on things that we need to work on.”
It was the Breakers’ second win of the week over the Phoenix (12-3). On Monday, they rolled to a 55-42 win at Bath.
“Credit to Pine Tree Academy,” Hyde Coach Richard Polgar said. “I love playing them. They hustle. They’ve got some good talent on that team. They play with passion. They play the way the game is meant to be played, and that’s with joy.”
Pine Tree, outscoring opponents by an average of 47.6 to 24.2 this season, maintained its defensive pressure despite having just seven players available for the game.
“We know we’re only to going to have a few girls playing because our school is so small,” Dayon said. “Everyone knows they have to hustle just for us to compete with any of the other teams. I play every single girl in every game, no matter what. It’s just a matter of how hard they hustle.”
The Breakers opened and closed the first half with 10-0 runs in building their 23-point advantage.
“We didn’t play a game that I believe represents Hyde basketball, but I give credit to Pine Tree,” Polgar said. “They beat us tonight. We’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got some things to improve upon, but Pine Tree deserves all the credit.”
Hyde is in the midst of a grueling stretch in which it will play seven games in less than two weeks.
“As a boarding school, we had some long breaks,” Polgar said. “We end up with a few games early and then we get a bunch late.”
Polgar said the schedule should help prepare the team for the regional tournament.
“It’s hard for us,” he said. “The girls are tired. School’s demanding. We’re on the road. If we can get through that, win some and lose some, we believe we’ll be ready for the tournament.”
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