TOPSHAM — “ The kids have worked so incredibly hard all year long, and tonight it finally paid off for them,” said Mt. Ararat High School boys basketball coach Aaron Watson after his Eagles earned their first win of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference season with a 44-39 victory over Oxford Hills on Tuesday.
Senior Josh Wright paced the 1-12 Eagles with 14 points, with DJ Cole nailing two 3- pointers and finishing with 13 points. Mt. Ararat was 17 of 26 from the free-throw line.
The Mt. Ararat defense held Oxford Hills (4-9) standout Josh McDonald to just three points. Deric Hanscom led the Vikings with nine points, and Oxford Hills finished eight of 16 from the charity stripe.
“We needed this game to be close and for us to be scrappy, diving for balls, taking charges, and we did that,” said Watson. “ In our postgame huddle, there were emotions, and it was good to see that their hard work paid off.”
The Eagles will look to make it two in a row at Erskine Academy on Friday ( 7 p.m.).
| MARANACOOK | 68 |
| MORSE | 57 |
The visiting Black Bears hit 10 3-pointers, including three from Caleb Johnson in the fourth quarter in coming away with a KVAC Class B win at Bath.
“ Ten 3- pointers and Maranacook going 22 of 32 at the free-throw line were just too much to overcome,” said Morse (3-9) coach Todd Flaherty, whose team visits Oak Hill on Thursday.
The Shipbuilders trailed 18- 13 after a quarter, 31-27 at the half and 43-37 through three quarters.
Ted Cole and Matt Munster led Morse with 16 points each, with D’Vaughn Myers adding 10. Christopher Paulus and Paul Whalen were solid defensively.
| OOB | 61 | |
| RICHMOND | 18 |
Class C Old Orchard Beach posted quarterly leads of 8-5, 29-10 and 51-14 in defeating the host Bobcats in non-conference play on Tuesday.
Class D Richmond, which was hurt by 33 turnovers, fell to 3-9 and is scheduled to visit Rangeley on Friday.
Anthony Langella- Laws had 17 points for OOB and Zach Seamans chipped in with 11.
In the Richmond effort, Ben Carver and Brian Snedeker split eight points evenly.
At the foul line, Old Orchard was 11 of 14 and Richmond nine of 13.
| POLAND | 61 |
| FREEPORT | 60 |
The host Falcons battled back from a seven- point fourth-quarter deficit before falling short in a Western Maine Conference contest.
“ It was a back- and- forth game, and we had our chances down the stretch,” said Freeport coach Matt Cook, whose team is 2-11 and visits Yarmouth on Friday.
Poland (8-5) posted narrow quarterly leads of 16-12, 28-27 and 44-43.
Logan Nichols had 24 points to lead Poland, with Ricky Bryant adding 18 points. The Knights were 15 of 19 at the foul line.
Mitch Loeman paced the Falcons with 25 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Chandler Birmingham and Jose Rosquete each had 11 points, with Josh Weirich pulling down seven rebounds.
Freeport finished five of seven at the line.
| LISBON | 37 |
| TELSTAR | 69 |
At Bethel, the host Rebels jumped on top 23-10 after a quarter and pulled away from there for a Mountain Valley Conference win.
Telstar ( 7- 5) held a 43- 21 lead at the half and extended its advantage to 56-24 through 24 minutes.
Danny Whitney paced the Rebels with a game-high 19 points, with teammate Nick Mills adding 16. Telstar finished 10 of 12 at the charity stripe.
Tucker Brannon led 1- 12 Lisbon with 12 points and eight boards, with Jacob Bremmer adding seven points and Nick Collins six. Mason Haley dished out three assists.
The Greyhounds, who visit Mountain Valley tonight, were seven of 11 at the freethrow stripe.
| DIRIGO | 82 |
| WISCASSET | 67 |
Undefeated Dirigo ( 13- 0) received 28 points from Cody St. Germaine for an MVC win at Wiscasset, which had a five- game winning streak snapped to fall to 7-6.
“They’re a good team,” said Wiscasset coach Dana Lawrence of Dirigo. “I think they’re beatable, but we were timid in the first quarter. We played them even in the second half.”
The Cougars jumped on top 22-12 after a quarter, led 43-24 at the half and 65- 42 after three. Ben Holmes chipped in 16 points, with Caleb Turner adding 12.
Jordan Jones hit six 3- pointers for a team-high 24 points to pace the Wolverines, who visit Monmouth on Thursday. Caleb Bryant had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Bryant also had three steals, Jones four assists, and Austin Haskell nine points and five assists. Cory Hodgdon ripped away three steals, and Jason Weatherbee pulled down nine caroms.
“Caleb and Jason both had good ball games,” added Lawrence.
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