BANGOR — It’s a shot Stevie Walsh has taken in practice many times, the baseline 3-pointer. It’s a shot he’s practiced over and over. Of course he expected to sink it.
Walsh’s shot from the left corner with 7.5 seconds left in regulation capped Yarmouth’s rally from a 10-point deficit to tie the Class B boys basketball state championship game, and the Clippers dominated overtime to earn a 59-52 win over Ellsworth.
“It’s a play we’ve worked on all season. We knew if it came down to it like that, one of us would have to make a shot,” Walsh said.
Yarmouth (20-3) won its first Gold Ball since 2012. Ellsworth, trying to win its first state championship since 1966, finished the season 22-1.
Ellsworth led 40-30 with 3:19 left in the fourth quarter. Matt Waeldner’s layup off his own steal cut the lead to 40-36 with just under two minutes left, and a Waeldner 3-pointer with 1:28 to go made it 40-39.
For much of the game, Ellsworth’s full-court pressure and tight defense kept Yarmouth from finding a comfort zone.
“Once the game slows down for us, that’s when we have success, and that’s what happened,” said Yarmouth coach Jonas Allen, who ran into the stands at game’s end to embrace his wife, Beth.
The Eagles led 44-41 on a pair of Brett Bragdon free throws with 19.5 seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, Walsh’s 3 tied the game and sent it to overtime, where the Clippers pulled away.
“Stevie Walsh had two game-winning goals in their soccer championship (run) in the playoffs,” Allen said. “Then he steps up and does this. He’s one of the most clutch kids I’ve ever been around. If there’s a shot to be had, we get him the ball.”
Peter Psyhogeos led Yarmouth with 27 points – 10 in overtime when he was a perfect 8 for 8 at the line. Waeldner added 16 points.
“(Ellsworth’s) press is chaotic, but they all know where they’re supposed to be and they cause turnovers,” Psyhogeos said. “Stevie hit a big shot for us. Once we were there, we were like, it’s 0-0. It’s a new game. And we’ve got four minutes left in our season to win the game.”
Ellsworth closed the first half with a strong run to take a 29-21 lead into the break. Ahead 20-18 with five minutes left in the second quarter, the Eagles scored nine in a row before Walsh hit a 3 with 22 seconds left to stop the bleeding.
“We just needed to take better care of the ball at the end,” said Ellsworth coach Peter Austin. “I probably should’ve called a few more timeouts, I guess. Yarmouth pulled it out and we didn’t execute.”
Hunter Curtis, the Big East Player of the Year, paced Ellsworth in the first half with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Six of his first-half rebounds were on offense, three coming in one possession that ended with a Curtis putback. He finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Chance Mercier led the Eagles with 17 points.
“We we’re pushing the ball up. We were getting decent shots,” said Austin. “I thought at the end we were getting decent shots, but we were missing them.”
The Clippers found themselves in foul trouble early. Forward Cole Snyder picked up his second foul 1:45 into the game and had to sit. His replacement, Quin O’Meara, picked up his second foul late in the first quarter.
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