TOPSHAM

Leavitt overcame a slow start to beat Mt. Ararat, 65- 57 in boys Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference high school basketball action on Thursday.

The Hornets erased a nine-point deficit after one quarter and outscored the Eagles 49-32 the rest of the way.

Wyatt Hathaway poured in a game-high 24 points, including a stellar 9-for-12 from the line for the winners.

“At the beginning of the season there were a couple of games where I missing some free throws,” said Hathaway. “I was a little streaky, so I hit the gym and it paid off tonight.”

The Hornets found themselves down early. The Eagles opened the game with a fast-paced tempo that kept Leavitt on its heels. Tanner Greenleaf paced the Eagles early, driving the hoop and converting a pair of layups from the guard position. Another basket and a free throw and the senior totaled seven first-quarter points.

Once the Eagles established they were going to the hoop, the shooters then took over from the outside. Greg Malin sank a pair of treys and Mt. Ararat was out to a quick 13-5 lead midway through the quarter. Malin had three first-quarter 3- pointers.

“They came out gunning in that first quarter,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “They were playing at a pretty good pace.”

Junior Will Kavanaugh came off the bench and quickly sank a long three to put the home team up 17-10 and later stole the ball and sank another 3-point basket for Mt. Ararat’s biggest lead of the quarter, 23-11, with 1: 35 remaining. Kavanaugh tallied eight first-quarter points.

Mt. Ararat ended with a 25-16 advantage after the first eight minutes.

“We played a good quarter,” said Eagles coach Jeff Hogan after his team played a seemingly flawless first frame.

Things changed in the second. Leavitt opened the second quarter with a 12-2 run in the first four minutes, with Mt. Ararat (7-9) going cold, shooting just 2-for-16 from the floor.

Meanwhile, the Hornets (6-9) were finding points in multiple places. Freshman Joziah Learned was a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe and scored six points. Mark Herman registered four while Hathaway added to his seven first quarter points with a bucket.

Mt. Ararat was 0-for-4 from behind the arc and lost its presence underneath when Jared Balser went to the bench with early foul trouble.

“We defended a lot better in the second quarter,” said Mike Hathaway. “We stopped helping so much and just tried to really keep the ball in front of us and keep on their shooters.”

The result was an 18-4 quarter for the visitors and a 34-29 Leavitt lead at the half.

“We go into foul trouble, but that’s something we’ve had trouble with for 15 weeks,” said Hogan.

A Learned trey opened the second half, putting the Eagles down by eight to start the half. A Hathaway basket and free throw and the Hornets had a 10-point lead before the Eagles scored a second-half point, with 4:19 left in the third.

The Hornets continued to keep the ball in Wyatt Hathaway’s hands. The speedy guard drove to the basket, hitting two more layups, including one with 54 seconds left where he was fouled. He completed the three-point play with a made free throw. Two more from the charity stripe and the Hornets had their biggest lead of the night, 51-36 through three quarters.

Despite trailing by 15 points, the Eagles didn’t quit. The home team chipped away at the Leavitt lead to open the final frame. Max Spelke hustled his way for a couple of quick baskets and Kyle Brennan came off the bench for a pair of key baskets and a free throw for five points.

Balser returned to the floor, and in a big way, controlling the boards in the final quarter, hauling down nine rebounds of his game-high 14. The junior center had four points in the paint and sank a pair of key free throws to help keep the Eagles within striking distance.

That’s when Wyatt Hathaway took over from the free-throw line, scoring five of his 15 second-half points from the charity stripe. Josh Banks also sank four free throws in the final eight minutes to help seal the win for Leavitt.

Learned followed Hathaway with 16 points, while Banks and Mark Herman each netted seven points in the win. The Hornets were 24- for-43 from the free-throw line.

Malin and Greenleaf paced Mt. Ararat with nine points each, while Kavanaugh added eight. Sophomore Nathan Taylor came off the bench to hit a pair of treys to finish with six points. The Eagles shot just 6-for-24 from beyond the arc after hitting four of their first six from long distance.

“We literally got outplayed tonight,” said Hogan. “They out-hustled us in every aspect of the game. We couldn’t shoot or grab rebounds. Hopefully this doesn’t hurt our playoff chances.”

Leavitt 65, Mt. Ararat 57

At Topsham

	Leavitt	—	16	18	17	14	—	65
Mt.		Ararat	—25	4	7	21	—	57

Leavitt — Joziah Learned 4-7-16,
Cole Morin 2-1-5, Josh Banks 1-5-7,
Wyatt Hathaway 7-9-24, Stephen
Gray 1-2-4, Mark Herman 3-0-7, Oren
Shaw 0-0-0, Keegan Melanson 0-0-0,
Damion Calder 1-0-2. Totals — 19-
24-65.
Mt. Ararat — Max Spelke 2-1-5, Tanner Greenleaf 3-3-9, Austin Damon 2-
1-5, Greg Malin 3-0-9, Jared Balser
2-2-4, Michael Rogers 1-1-3, Will
Kavanaugh 3-0-8, Peter Lavan 0-0-0,
Kyle Brennan 2-1-5, Nick Merrill 0-0-
0, Jesse Mujambere 0-0-0, Sean
Roberts 0-1-1, Nathan Taylor 2-0-6.
Totals — 20-10-57.
3-point goals — (L) Learned, Herman, Hathaway; (MtA) Morin 3,
Kavanaugh 2, Brennan 2.
Records — Leavitt 6-9; Mt. Ararat 7-
9.
Up next for the Eagles — Monday at
home against Medomak Valley, 7
p.m.