LIVERMORE FALLS – Dirigo built a nine-point lead in the first half of Monday night’s MVC clash with Livermore Falls, but coach Gavin Kane wasn’t having any bouquets delivered to the visitor’s locker room at intermission.
“I wasn’t very pleased with the way we were playing defensively in the first half,” Kane said. “I did not think our fullcourt trap was that effective, and then when we were man-to-man, we were getting beat off the dribble too much.”
Kane delivered that message to his players at halftime, and the Cougars responded by tightening the defensive screws in the second half to pull away for a 78-51 win.
“We didn’t come out to play at all (in the first half),” said junior guard Spencer Berry, who led the Cougars with a fine all-around game (13 points, seven rebounds, four assists, four steals). “We had a real bad first half. Second half we came out. Mostly (the game plan) was just to stop (Mike) Durrell, but he’s a big man. He’s pretty hard to throw around.”
Durrell finished with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds. But the 6-foot-6 junior was about all the Andies (5-7) had to stem the tide in the second half, scoring six of their eight field goals.
“I thought he had a good ball game for them. We were giving up position to him too easily in the post. He’s got a big strong body,” Kane said. “But we picked up the level of intensity defensively (in the second half).”
Mike Holmquist led a balanced offense for the Cougars (9-1) with 17 points. Colby Knapp added 14 and three steals.
Knapp and his fellow big men for Dirigo, Chris Richards and Thomas Knight, outplayed Durrell early and helped the Cougars take the lead for good with a 11-2 run to close the first quarter. The Andies clawed back to within five points on a Jake Marceau jumper with 2:50 to go in the first half, but Berry and Holmquist answered with buckets to help push the margin up to nine at the half.
The Cougars maintained that lead for much of the third quarter, then went on a 10-1 run sparked by a three-point play and then a fast break layup by Josh Daley (seven points) followed by a 3-pointer by Gary Holman (eight points) to open up an 18-point cushion.
The Andies were clearly worn down by the Dirigo D’ by the fourth quarter, as the Cougars forced 10 of their 25 turnovers on the night in the final eight minutes. Holmquist scored 10 in the quarter and led a 14-4 run to begin the period as the Cougars inflated a 13-point lead at the end of three to 23 with four minutes left.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
