KITTERY — A game that went to the wire – twice – left both teams with mixed feelings.
Traip Academy, a contending team in Class C, felt both relieved and frustrated after beating Class B Lake Region 62-61 in overtime Tuesday.
Relieved because the Rangers (9-4) needed a good-break 3-pointer by Jordan Polanco to tie the game late in regulation, and frustrated that a lackluster second half nearly cost them a victory.
“We’re not in any terms happy with the win but we’re at least happy we didn’t lose,” said Polanco, who scored 12 points, including four straight free throws to start the overtime. “We weren’t happy and our coach wasn’t happy with that second half.”
“We thought we had already won the game in the first half,” said Traip Coach Ed Szczepanik. “We’re still coaching attitude and effort in the latter part of the season and we shouldn’t be. When we go out and play bad it shows up.”
Will Stuart (23 points) made his second free throw, after missing his first, with .9 seconds left in overtime for the winning point. Stuart got to the line by driving inside and creating contact, getting the call.
It was Traip’s second win against Lake Region and its fourth against a Class B opponent.
For Lake Region (3-10) the disappointment of not getting a much-needed win was at least muted by its rally from a 37-19 deficit late in the second quarter.
“We dug ourselves a hole but I’m proud of our guys the way they came back in the second half,” said Lake Region Coach John Mayo. “We came out with a little fire. We just came up short.”
For the first half and even into the third, Lake Region was relying on center Mark Mayo (20 points) to carry the offensive load. He scored 15 of the Lakers’ first 27 points at that point, but Traip still led by a dozen.
Then Evan Willey pump-faked a 3 and scored at the rim. That seemed to loosen things up. Willey (17 points) made two 3s in the third and Liam Grass (10 points) had two in the fourth, his second giving Lake Region a 51-50 lead with 1:32 to play – the Lakers’ first lead since 10-9 midway through the first quarter.
Derek Langadas (11 points) made four straight free throws to counter a Treshaun Brown (13 points) floater and Lake Region led 55-52 with 22 seconds to play.
Stuart’s 3-pointer to tie missed the rim. Brown reacted quickly, got the loose ball and in one motion whipped a pass to Polanco in the corner, who hit the tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds to play.
In the overtime, Willey tied the game at 61 with 15 seconds to play on a similar play, when he got the ball after a near turnover.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
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