BIDDEFORD — Jackson Oloya, Biddeford High’s 6-foot senior defensive stopper, said he heard crowd members warning him that Kennebunk sharpshooter Cam Lovejoy was “going to drop 30 on me,” before the game.
That didn’t happen. In fact, Kennebunk’s entire team barely cracked 30, as Oloya and the Tigers shut down the Rams from beginning to end. With a strong offensive start and contributions from multiple players, Biddeford rolled to a 56-31 win Friday in a Class A South season opener.
“I told them I was going to lock him down,” Oloya said.
Lovejoy averaged 15.4 points as a sophomore and was a second-team all-Western Maine Conference pick, but he scored three points Friday. The rest of the Rams were ice-cold, too, making just two shots while falling behind 18-4 in the first quarter and going 5 for 28 in the first half. Kyle Pasieniuk was the high scorer for Kennebunk with seven points, and the Rams needed a banked-in 3-pointer in garbage time to crest the 30-point barrier.
Biddeford disrupted Kennebunk with a three-quarter zone trap that effectively morphed into a half-court man-to-man.
“We were able to press, create some turnovers, kind of control the pace but not give up easy ones,” said Biddeford Coach Justin Tardif. “We did do a nice job on that slide from that zone to man.”
After scoring off the opening tip, Kennebunk made just one more basket over the next 10-plus minutes and trailed 25-4.
“I thought we got some looks, especially early – they just weren’t falling,” said Kennebunk Coach Barrett Belanger. “Defensively, they made it tough with that press. They took us out of our flow. That’s a credit to them.”
Carter Edgerton jump-started Biddeford’s offense with 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter, including three layups out of half-court sets.
“We like to try to get into the paint early on, and I was getting into the paint and they were just giving me the open looks in the paint. Hard to pass up a layup,” Edgerton said.
DeSean Cromwell heated up in the middle two quarters, scoring 10 of his game-high 14 points. Cody Saucier contributed hustle second-chance baskets for 10 points, and Oloya, scoreless through three quarters, finished off the win with three 3-pointers on consecutive shots.
“We just kept going and going. We played that press, and I think we tired them out,” Edgerton said. “Jackson locked down their (first option), and everyone else did a good job sprinting to other people.”
In the third quarter, Cromwell quickly reasserted Biddeford’s dominance with a nice hook shot in the paint and then a layup off a steal that increased the Tigers’ lead to 38-24.
The Rams didn’t get closer than 20 the rest of the way.
“It’s a wake-up call,” Belanger said. “They’re down, but we’ll get back to practice Monday and get ready for Westbrook (on) Tuesday.”
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
scraig@pressherald.com
Twitter: SteveCCraig
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