Ponies hold off Ellsworth to open with a one-point win
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Three lead changes, including two in the last 60 seconds, a 7-0 and then 10-2 difference in fouls, a game-winning shot in the paint, a go-ahead 3-point attempt by the opposition at the buzzer, and all in the fourth quarter of the first game of the 2013-14 season. The Foxcroft Academy boys ended up finishing just ahead of Ellsworth High School on the scoreboard, 36-35, Dec. 6 during the opening night of high school basketball across the state.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
OPENING NIGHT — Foxcroft Academy won the first game of the 2013-14 season by defeating Ellsworth High School in Dover-Foxcroft, 36-35, on Dec. 6. Pony sophomore Hunter Smith, going up for a layup, tallied a game-high 22 points with 10 coming in the fourth quarter. Also pictured are Foxcroft seniors Volodymyr Pyzhov (41) and Colby Snell (3) and Ellsworth seniors Steven Mahon (23) and Brandon Braley (10).
Early in the fourth quarter, with the Eagles leading the Ponies 26-24, Foxcroft sophomore Hunter Smith was fouled, the seventh foul committed by Ellsworth to zero for the home team. Smith sank both shots on the one-and-one opportunity to tie the contest at 26 points.
Smith, who ended up leading all players with 22 points and over 61 percent of his team’s total, would go on to score the next seven points himself — on two shots from the floor and a trio of free throws — to put Foxcroft up by seven at 33-26 with just under four minutes to play.
The Eagles quickly soared back as sophomore Nicholas Bagley and senior Steven Mahon hit back-to-back 3-point shots to put the team within a point at 33-32.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
DOUBLE FIGURES — Pony senior Sam Keane, being guarded by Ellsworth sophomore Alex Braley, tallied 10 points during the Dec. 6 contest. Keane and sophomore Hunter Smith’s game-high 22 points gave the two 32 of Foxcroft’s 36 points (nearly 89 percent of the total). Foxcroft won 36-25.
With 2:17 to go Smith was fouled in the act of shooting, the 10th foul for Ellsworth (to just two at the time for Foxcroft) to put the Ponies in the double-bonus. The first shot missed the mark, but Smith made the second as he ended up going 6-of-7 from the line in the fourth quarter. He tallied 10 points in the final eight minutes, outscoring the Eagles’ nine over the same timespan.
In the final minute Bagley connected from the right corner on a 3-point attempt, putting Ellsworth ahead again at 35-34 — his nine points were a team-high for the Eagles.
The Ponies responded on the ensuing possession as senior Kolby Kendall got the ball in the low post. The 6-foot-6 senior used his height advantage over all of the Eagle players by putting up a shot from underneath the basket. Kendall hit his mark as the ball went in to put Foxcroft ahead again, this time at 36-35 with 27 seconds on the clock.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
MAKING HIS BASKET COUNT — Senior Kolby Kendall’s basket in the final half minute would prove to be the winning points in Foxcroft’s 36-35 victory vs. Ellsworth on Dec. 6. Kendall is pictured earlier in the second half getting off a field goal attempt, while senior Volodymyr Pyzhov looks on.
After getting the ball across midcourt, Ellsworth head coach Peter Austin called timeout with 19.8 seconds to go. The ensuing in-bounds play led to a 3-point attempt, but the shot missed and the ball ended rolling out of bounds to the left by the home bleacher full of spectators.
The officials ruled the basketball was last touched by Foxcroft, giving the Eagles possession with 1.9 seconds remaining. The ball was then thrown to Mahon, who launched a deep 3-pointer from near the top of the key. The ball hit the rim but bounced away from the net as the buzzer sounded to give the Ponies the victory.
Next on the schedule for Foxcroft is a game at Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
SNEAKING BY — Senior Colby Snell drives toward the hoop on Dec. 6 vs. Ellsworth.