AUGUSTA — Brandon Ouellette of Forest Hills set the Class D West boys’ basketball tournament record with eight 3-pointers Wednesday.
The scary sidebars: Ouellette attempted at least twice that many, and coach Anthony Amero thought he could have cashed in four or five more, with a little help.
“If we could have gotten a couple better looks for him, I think he really could have gone off in the first half,” Amero said. “I knew he was dialed in. We have certain plays we run when he looks at the bench and his head is bobbing up and down a million miles an hour, so I knew.”
No. 1 Forest Hills eased to its third semifinal win in four years, 78-41, over No. 4 Seacoast Christian at Augusta Civic Center.
Four days after his teammate, Ryan Petrin, scored 38 points in a quarterfinal rout of NYA, Ouellette erupted for 34. He scored only five in the previous round.
“We have four seniors that could go off for 25 any night,” Ouellette said. “In warmups the other day I wasn’t on, and I felt that. Today I hit my first four or five shots, and I knew it was starting to come back.”
Petrin added 23 points and 17 rebounds for Forest Hills, which will face Hyde in the championship game Saturday. Forest Hills beat Hyde, 61-60, in the 2012 final, when Ouellette, Petrin, Matt Turner and Tanner Daigle were freshmen.
Daigle delivered 10 points and four steals for the Tigers. Turner contributed eight points and five assists.
“They are unselfish as unselfish can be,” Amero said. “That’s what you get when you grow up together, in the neighborhood, riding the same snowmobiles, sharing their lunches since kindergarten. They love each other and take care of each other.”
Tim Yeaton led Seacoast Christian (17-3) with 16 points in its first-ever semifinal. Ethan Towne tallied eight.
The Guardians’ lone lead of the game was 2-1. Forest Hills responded with eight consecutive points, four from Petrin.
Ouellette hit only one 3-pointer in the first quarter but added three in the second and two in the third. The record-breaker was a wide-open launch from the left corner with about a minute left.
Randy Poulin of Buckfield set the previous D West mark in a 2000 preliminary game. Ouellette’s eight are the most by any boy on the civic center floor, all classes, since the 3-point line was introduced in 1988.
“I’ve had six in a game before,” Ouellette said. “Coach just told me keep shootingand they’re going to fall.”
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