AA North boys' quarterfinal: Big men come up big for Vikings in win over Stags

Oxford Hills’ Atreyu Keniston and Chevrus’ Owen Burke fight for a rebound.

AUGUSTA — Oxford Hills decided it needed to go big after learning Cheverus’ 6-foot-5 junior center Jesse Matthews would not be playing in Thursday night’s Class AA North boys’ basketball quarterfinal.

And the Vikings’ big men sure came up, well, big.

Atreyu Keniston scored a career-high 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and combined with Colton Carson to control the boards as the fifth-seeded Vikings defeated No. 4 Cheverus in overtime, 53-50, at the Augusta Civic Center.

Oxford Hills (13-6) will face No. 1 Portland in the semifinals at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Cheverus, which beat the Vikings, 55-44, early in the regular season, finishes its season 11-8.

Matthews drew two technical fouls and was ejected from the Stags’ regular-season finale against Portland last week, which by rule rendered him ineligible for their next game. That led Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam to start a bigger lineup that included Carson, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, and Keniston, a rugged 6-3 junior.

As a result, the Vikings dominated the boards, particularly the offensive glass, for most of the game. Carson, Keniston and 6-5 sophomore Matt Fleming (13 points) combined to haul in 14 offensive rebounds, nearly three times what the entire Cheverus team collected.

“We really haven’t played the three of them together very much this year, which is probably stupid. But matchups worry me, being a man (defense) guy,” Graffam said.

“(Matthews’ absence) definitely helped because we didn’t have to focus on two people (in the paint). We just had to focus on (Jack) Casale,” said Carson (six points, 11 rebounds), who drew the tough assignment of guarding Cheverus’ leading scorer. “We were pretty much trying to limit (Casale’s) touches.”

“(The win) is huge,” he added. “We definitely feel good after this win. We feel confident about (facing) Portland.”

In a back-and-forth game that saw 16 lead changes and 10 ties, the Vikings never trailed in the overtime session.

Verrier knocked down both ends of a one-and-one to put them in front, 52-50, with 27.1 seconds left. Chris St. Pierre thwarted the Stags’ bid to tie it by drawing an offensive foul on Casale with 7.6 seconds to go.

With 6.1 seconds left, the Stags fouled Fleming, who hit one of two from the line to make it 53-50. After a timeout, Cheverus’ William Shibles nearly tied it at the final horn with a heave from just past halfcourt that went off the backboard, spun around the rim twice and rolled out.

Kenniston started crashing the boards from the start, scoring eight of the Vikings’ first 13 points.

“That was my mindset going into the game. I wanted to do as much for the team as I could,” Keniston said. “You’ve got to be tough. Guys will come out here and try to rough you up and try to get you out of your game. You’ve just got to step up.”

The Vikings’ suddenly forgot how to rebound when Keniston went to the bench with his second foul early in the second quarter. But, led by Verrier (13 points), Oxford Hills’ guards found more room to operate in the paint. Verrier scored the Vikings’ final seven points of the half to send his team into the locker room with a 23-20 lead.

“Usually, we’re shooting a lot of 3s, but we were able to get to the rim tonight,” Verrier said. “That was big for us.”

Verrier and Fleming sparked an 8-0 Vikings run to end the third quarter for a 39-32 lead, but Casale (24 points, 10 rebounds) scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to tie it, 39-39.

Oxford Hills missed its first four shots of the quarter before Fleming righted the ship with a runner with five minutes remaining.

Carson made one of two from the free throw line to make it 46-45 Vikings with 10.2 seconds left. After a timeout, Casale was fouled with three seconds left. He missed the first free throw, then had his second barely make it over the front of the rim, bounce twice and fall through the net to tie it and ultimately send it to overtime.

Oxford Hills’ Matthew Fleming celebrates after the Vikings’ win over Cheverus in the Class AA North quarterfinals at Augusta Civic Center on Thursday.