Deering’s Nick Langella tries to keep up with Edward Little’s Austin Brown during the Class AA North regional final. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald Buy this Photo
AUBURN — A mid-week practice drill wasn’t going particularly well for an Edward Little player when coach Mike Adams took the player aside and explained to him the vital role failure plays in success.
Adams believes the same lessons apply to the Red Eddies as a whole, who had some missteps en route to their second state championship game in three years (9 p.m. Saturday, Cross Insurance Arena) against Thornton Academy.
The Golden Trojans (15-3) handed the Eddies (19-2) their first loss of the season, 66-49, on Dec. 12, and Adams isn’t sure Edward Little would be playing Saturday night if it didn’t turn that loss into a learning experience.
“It’s a long season,” Adams said. “We’re hopefully a much better team than we were earlier. When we fail, that just shows us things that we have to work on and have to get better.”
Adams is quick to point out the same holds true for the Trojans, who avenged two regular-season losses to and defeated previously unbeaten South Portland in the Class AA South title game, 61-55, in overtime.
Thornton Academy coach Bob Davies said his team kept its focus on one goal, throughout, to get the Trojans back to their first state championship game since 2009. And failure was not an option.
“It’s a pretty team-oriented group of guys,” Davies said, “and all year, the players wanted to see how far they could go in the tournament. These kids are good student-athletes that are very competitive. Whether it’s game one or game 10, they’re participating in the moment and worrying only about the game they’re playing.”
Their ability to stay “in the moment” alleviates any fear that the Trojans take comfort in their 17-point win over EL in December.
“The regular-season game is in the past and doesn’t mean much,” Davies said.
Adams still finds certain aspects of that game relevant, particularly guard Payton Jones’ ability to dictate the tempo. Jones finished with 21 points in the game.
Led by staunch defense from senior Austin Brown, Edward Little showed it could handle dynamic point guards in its 64-51 AA North regional final win over Deering by holding the Rams’ Askar Houssein to four points after he’d scored 29 points in the previous game.
Adams said the Eddies face a new challenge in defending Jones.
“He’s a different level. He’s stronger going to the rim, but he can shoot,” Adams said. “He’s a great player. The jump from his game last year to this year shows how hard he’s worked.”
There’s a lot more to beating the Trojans than containing Jones, though. Dylan Griffin, Thornton’s 6-foot-6 junior center, had 17 points in the first meeting and will likely match up with EL sophomore center John Shea, the Eddies’ leading scorer this season (16.9 ppg).
“He’s not just big. He’s got t3-point range,” Adams said. “And what’s neat about Thornton is they make each other better. You take one away and then you’ve got Griffin. You take one away and then you’ve got (Jack) Pyzinksi.”
Thornton Academy’s Dylan Griffin battles for possession with South Portland’s Gerik Bialorucki during Class AA South final last week. Jill Brady/Portland Press Herald Buy this Photo
In the teams’ first meeting, Pyziniski, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, scored eight points (including two 3-pointers) in the third quarter to help the Trojans transform a 26-23 halftime lead to 45-33 at the end of the third. Colby Lands, a 6-foot-2 senior forward, gives Thornton another formidable presence in the paint and on the boards.
Thornton Academy is making its first state championship game appearance since 2009, when it won the first state title in school history with a dramatic 54-52 win over the Adams-led Eddies in Class A.
Edward Little, meanwhile, has one remaining starter from its Class AA title team of two years ago, Brown, and one other player, senior starting guard Storm Jipson, who played as a sophomore reserve.
Jipson, the Class AA North Defensive Player of the Year, gives Adams another option to defend Jones. The rest of the starting five, senior forward Max Creaser and senior guard Cam Yorke, can stretch opposing defenses from the perimeter but can also score in the paint.
Junior guard R.J. Nichols has made some big shots off the bench in the tournament and was the Eddies’ second-leading scorer (14 points) in the first game with Thornton, behind Shea’s 16 points.
In the win over Deering, Adams also frequently turned to two other reserves, senior center/forward Dan Milks and senior forward/guard Jamaine Luizzo, to give EL energy and defense off the bench.
Davies said planning to defend against the Red Eddies, much like his own team, involves containing more than one or two players.
“They’re a great team,” Davies said. “They’ve got some talented guards and some bigs. They shoot the ball well. They’re all fundamentally sound and play team basketball.”
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