AUBURN — Senior Ethan Bosse had trouble remembering when the St. Dominic’s Academy boys’ basketball team won a home game inside Callahan Family Memorial Gymnasium.
On Monday against Pine Tree Academy, the Saints rode Bosse’s touch to edge past the Breakers 58-56, the first home win for St. Dom’s boys’ basketball in three years.
Pine Tree Academy fell to 4-10, while the Saints improved to 2-12.
Tied at 56, Bosse did what he pretty much did throughout the contest, cutting inside after receiving a pass from William Laflamme and finishing with 54 seconds remaining.
“I have been waiting for four years for this, and it just feels great,” said Bosse, who finished with a team-high 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for a double-double. “I was able to stay strong in the paint. This team is growing and really did a good job setting me up tonight. I was trying to keep my pace up and make good, open cuts. Pine Tree has some good players, so it was tough to find openings.”
The Breakers had their chances. A good start gave the visitors a 12-4 lead, and after trailing throughout the third quarter, they rallied to tie the game at 41 heading to the fourth.
Pine Tree led 56-53 after Chris Amisi (25 points, 16 rebounds, four steals) drove inside, pulled down two offensive boards and finished.
But, coming out of a timeout, Amisi again drove inside and this time was whistled for a player-control foul. Saints guard Logan Welch, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, tied the game with a long 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining.
“When we called that timeout, we were going to go four-out to work off some time. Amisi instead drives in and gets that fourth foul. That is the turning point in the game. They stick that shot to tie the game, and that changed the momentum,” Breakers coach Trevor Schlisner said.
“Logan missed the first month with a broken wrist, and since he came back, he has at least two 3s in each of his games,” St. Dom’s coach Kenny Poulin said.
Trailing by two after Bosse’s bucket, Pine Tree had three chances to either tie or win outright, but the Breakers missed two shots before Bosse blocked an Amisi shot to end the game.
“Every team wants seniors that are leaders and want to win,” Poulin said of Bosse. “I ride him in practice, but he is basketball guy around here. He has been through some tough times. We wouldn’t have won without him.”
Pine Tree owned the offensive boards from the get-go. The Breakers held a 44-30 edge on the glass, including 23 offensive rebounds that led to several put-back opportunities.
“We got some big ones, but we still didn’t do enough to keep them at bay,” Poulin said. “(The Breakers) are athletic and get a lot of second chances.”
Amisi hit a 3-pointer and finished off a steal for an eight-point lead midway through the first quarter.
St. Dom’s began pushing back. Bosse scored seven of 11 first-half points in the second quarter as the Saints claimed a 25-24 halftime lead.
Pine Tree made just 9-of-35 field goals in the first half.
“Those put-backs just werem’t dropping,” Schlisner said.
Bosse took over the third quarter, putting up 12 points. The Saints grabbed their biggest lead of the contest, 38-33, after a Bosse finish.
But, Noraj Jean-Louis heated up inside for the Breakers with five points, and Josiah Yeaton swished a pair of short jumpers to bring Pine Tree into a 41-41 deadlock through 24 minutes.
Grant Milano, who had 14 points, opened the fourth quarter with a trey for a 44-41 Breakers lead, but Welch found his stroke with a 3 for a 45-44 Saints lead. The lead switched hands four times from there, along with three deadlocks.
“It felt close the entire game. This will be good for them, playing in these types of close games,” Poulin said. “It is big for us because the kids are putting time and effort into something they believe in, and the work is starting to pay dividends.”
“We had some poor ball movement tonight,” Schlisner said. “We need to make more than two passes before we shoot, and we need to stop running the same play over and over again.”
Both teams struggled from the free-throw line, with the Breakers making just 7-of-16, including three straight misses on the front ends of 1-and-1s down the stretch.
The Saints were 5-of-10 at the foul line.
Jean-Louis finished with seven points and 11 rebounds, while Jobet Tardif pulled in 12 rebounds and picked up three steals for the Breakers.
Robbie Dick chipped in eight points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals for St. Dom’s.
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