For the Spruce Mountain boys on Saturday morning, it was a crawl. It was a trickle. It was frozen pipes. It was any other metaphor you might find valuable in the description of a game that saw the Phoenix score consecutive field goals, without a Yarmouth interruption, only once.
The Clippers didn’t exactly craft an instructional video on how to convert layups, jump shots or free throws, either. An eruption of eight unanswered points late in the third quarter was enough, however, to nudge No. 3 Yarmouth past No. 6 Spruce Mountain, 47-32, in the Class B South quarterfinals at Portland Expo.
Yes, some of it was fast hands and dynamite defense. Spruce Mountain forced Yarmouth into 24 turnovers, offsetting it with 21 giveaways.
“Both teams were getting after it,” Spruce Mountain coach Scott Bessey said. “We had a few open looks, but the cold shooting, the untimely turnovers (hurt us). They sped us up a little bit and got us into foul trouble, and the rest is history.”
Aleksander Medenica, a 6-foot-7 junior center, amassed 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Yarmouth (14-5), which will meet No. 2 Maranacook in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday across town inside Cross Insurance Arena.
Senior point guard Musseit M’Bareck ignited the third-period push with seven of his nine points, plus a pair of steals, before fouling out with 5:05 remaining in the fourth.
“Moose when we came out was saying, ‘Hey, guys, you can do this without me.’ It was all positive,” Yarmouth coach Adam Smith said. “He wasn’t complaining about the officials or anything, and I think that kept those guys in a positive frame of mind in that crucial moment.”
Spruce Mountain (11-8) lost in the quarterfinals for the fourth consecutive year.
Caulin Parker paced the Phoenix with 11 points. Noah Preble added nine, punctuated by a pair of second-half 3-pointers, and Austin Darling delivered six along with four steals. All three are juniors.
The Clippers left the door ajar on multiple occasions, most notably with the extended first-half cold snap and later with M’Bareck’s departure, but the Phoenix couldn’t kick it down due to their own monumental struggles. Spruce shot 10-for-54 (19 percent) from the field.
“I think our guards did a pretty job closing out (on Spruce’s shooters),” Medenica said. “I tried to communicate with them as much as possible. Our communication is getting better and better, and I think that’s a key for us at this point.”
Yarmouth never trailed despite shooting 1-for-9 in the first quarter and 5-for-18 through the half.
The Clippers’ substantial size advantage with Medenica and 6-5 sophomore Nolan Hagerty and 6-3 senior C.J. Cawley enabled them to pound the ball into the paint and draw contact while discouraging the Phoenix from doing the same. Yarmouth sank 22-of-36 from the line, while Spruce Mountain was only 8-for-11.
“When you’re pressing and fouling and they’re missing free throws but have 6-5, 6-6 rebounding, it’s difficult,” Bessey said. “Those are backbreakers.”
Yarmouth concluded the opening period with a 6-3 lead after a drought of more than four minutes afflicted both teams. Matt Cornelio, one of four Spruce seniors, nailed a 3-pointer that cut the Clippers’ cushion to 16-15 at the half.
M’Bareck christened the second half with a 3-pointer and Medenica added three the old-fashioned way, beginning with an offensive rebound, to carve out a seven-point lead. Spruce fought back to within two, 24-22, thanks to a Preble trey and two free throws and short bank shot by Parker.
That’s when the Clippers embarked on their 8-0 excursion, and it could have been worse for Spruce. Joey Fortin, M’Bareck and Medenica all missed and-one opportunities. Bailey Darling’s bucket off a steal by M’Bareck ratcheted the lead to double digits for the first time, 32-22, with 1:16 left in the third.
“They make it tough for you. We can simulate (their speed) all we want in practice, but when you see it in real life, it took us a while to adjust to that,” Smith said. “They would speed the game up a little bit on us when we didn’t want to. We were taking quick shots. I thought in the second half we maintained tempo much better. We ran when we had the opportunity, but we also slowed it down much better, too. Tempo was huge for us in the second half.”
Spruce Mountain nudged no closer than eight points in the fourth, first on two Parker free throws with 4:21 to go, and again on a Preble 3-pointer at the 2:48 mark.
Medenica, Bailey Darling and Devin Shields-Auble combined for eight free throws down the stretch to put it away. Austin Darling, Brett Frey and Parker all fouled out for the Phoenix, who hadn’t lost a game by more than nine points all season.
“We couldn’t string together shots. Then we’d shoot ourselves in the foot with a turnover. The clock was against us at that point,” Bessey said. “They’re a good team. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a run.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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