WISCASSET

The Wiscasset High School boys basketball team entered Monday’s Mountain Valley Conference contest against St. Dominic Academy with a record of 8-6.

Despite this, the Wolverines sat in the 11th and final playoff position in Western Maine Class C because the wins came against teams with a combined mark of 7-51.

The six Wiscasset losses occurred against many of the top squads in the MVC, so the Wolverines were in desperate need of a quality win to solidify a postseason appearance.

In a sloppy affair, Wiscasset used a 17-4 second-half run and held on for a big 42-38 victory over the Saints, propelling the Wolverines all the way up to eighth place in Western C, with St. Dom’s falling into the bubble spot at No. 11.

“This was huge, with them being one spot ahead of us in the Heal Points,” said Wiscasset ( 9- 6) coach Dana Lawrence, whose team travels to Madison on Thursday. “The last few games have come against teams on the lower end of the standings, and we did play well, but it was nice to see that we could turn around and compete against a good team.”

Both squads had trouble with turnovers, with the Saints committing 28 and the Wolverines 24. Plus, Wiscasset had trouble dealing with 6- foot-7 center Tom Applegate, who pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds and scored 13 points in the paint. St. Dom’s led 27-21 with 2:31 remaining in the third quarter after Applegate made one of two free throws.

Wiscasset freshman Travis Padilla and sophomore Austin Haskell found some rhythm for the hosts. Padilla scored all six of his points during the Wolverines’ big run, with Haskell picking up three assists.

“We wanted it a little bit more than they did today, and we were going hard to the hoop,” said Padilla, who shared the responsibility of guarding Applegate with teammates Caleb Bryant and Jason Weatherbee. “ It was tough playing inside against Applegate, but we had to work hard to box out and just get after it.”

“ That’s the funny thing with all of them, it doesn’t matter who is on the court because at times they click and other times they don’t,” said Lawrence. “We were able to take control and box out in key times and come out the way we wanted to.”

First half woes

Wiscasset began the contest in a hole, turning the ball over three times and falling behind 6- 0. Weatherbee scored four points for the Wolverines in the opening period as the hosts trailed 11- 6, with Applegate putting in five points for the Saints (7-8).

St. Dom’s opened the second quarter with a 6-2 run for a 17-8 lead with 2:27 remaining until halftime. Bryant and Haskell scored down the stretch to bring the Wolverines to 17-13 at the break.

“We didn’t play well in the first half, and just seemed to be rushing things too much at times,” said Lawrence, whose team shot 33 percent (six of 18) from the floor and was outrebounded 13-10.

St. Dom’s remained in its zone defense in the third, extending its lead to 27- 21 behind four points from Joe Bryant.

Ben Sutter’s layup got Wiscasset going, and Weatherbee scored three points to bring the Wolverines to 27-26. Padilla’s drive late in the frame gave Wiscasset its first lead, 28-27, through 24 minutes.

Jordan Jones hit a jumper early in the fourth, and backto back baskets off feeds from Haskell gave the hosts a 38-31 advantage with 3:43 left.

St. Dom’s made one last push, getting a 3-pointer from Andrew Gosselin and a putback by Applegate to get to 38- 36.

Haskell sank two free throws with 14 second left, and Devin Grover, returning from an injury, coolly hit two more from the line to close out the 42-38 victory.

“ I think we can beat any team right now,” said Haskell, who had nine points, four assists and three steals. “When we put things together, we are good. We just have to avoid the struggles we have sometimes, and if we play together, we can win.”

Weatherbee finished with a team- high 10 points, with Bryant adding seven and Jones six. Bryant picked up five steals, while Jones dished out four assists. The Wolverines shot 38 percent (17 of 44) from the floor and made seven of 14 foul shots.

Bryant joined Applegate in double figures with 12 points, with Gosselin chipping in seven. The Saints were nine of 14 at the line and shot 30 percent (14 of 46) from the field.

	Wiscasset		42,
St.		Dom’s	38

At Wiscasset High School
St. Dom’s — 11 6 10 11 — 38
Wiscasset — 6 7 15 14 — 42

St. Dom’s — Joe Bryant 3-6-12, Zak
Johnson 2-0-4, David Dean 0-0-0,
Andrew Gosselin 3-0-7, Tom Applegate
5-3-13, Ian McCracken 1-0-2, Eric Ulin
0-0-0. Totals — 14-9-38.
Wiscasset — Jason Weatherbee 4-2-
10, Caleb Bryant 3-1-7, Jordan Jones
3-0-6, Cory Hodgdon 0-0-0, Austin
Haskell 3-2-9, Travis Padilla 3-0-6,
Devin Grover 0-2-2, Ben Sutter 1-0-2,
James Andretta 0-0-0. Totals — 17-7-
42.
3-point field goals — (SD) Gosselin;
(W) Haskell.
Records — Wiscasset 9-6, St. Dom’s
7-8.
Next for the Wolverines — Thursday
at Madison, 7 p.m.

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