Old Town advances to Semifinal with win over Hermon
The Old Town Coyotes beat the Hermon Hawks in Class B North quarterfinals Friday evening.
Old Town sits in third place in the heal points with a record of 15-3. Their losses have been in the later half of the season to Orono, Ellsworth and Caribou. The Coyotes crash the offensive board on every possession, making it hard for their opponents to collect rebounds.
Hermon holds sixth place with 10 wins and 8 losses. The Hawks met up with the Coyotes in January and lost 43-40 which was an improvement to their earlier loss by 15 points. Many of this team's games have been close ones, but it shows their perseverance throughout the games.
For the Coyotes the players to keep an eye on are Senior forward, Brendan Mahaney, taking their outside shots and Junior forward, Emmitt Byther cleaning up the key. Old Town is a fast team and when their shots are falling, they’re unstoppable.
On the other bench, the Hawks rely on Junior center, Maddox Kinney, to guard the key. While Henderson makes plays on his drives, dishing the ball to his teammates.
Old Town started the game with strong defense, holding Hermon for about a minute on offense. However, the Hawks thrive in their slow offense which focuses on taking the best shots every possession. Kinney played excellent defense on Byther. The pressure caused Byther to fumble a lot of his possible shots.
Kinney made a hook shot from the baseline with three minutes left in the first, increasing the Hawk’s lead 6-4. Hermon continued to push the ball, getting the most-open shots on the court with their methodical offense. Down 9-6, Mahaney drained his first three-pointer of the game to tie it with two minutes left. Byther took over on offense as he got comfortable with Hermon’s pressure and created a lead for Old Town. Bryce Edwards, a Junior forward for the Hawks, cashed two free throws at the end of the quarter making the score 14-11.
In the second quarter Old Town ran up the scoreboard. Senior forward Grayson Thibeault and Byther both scored 8 points this quarter. The Coyotes were aggressive on defense, awarding them many fast-break layups. Aiden Gomm, an Old Town Senior guard, capitalized on these steals two possessions in a row. At the five minute mark, Byther hucked the ball to Gomm for a layup.
Thibeault continued to contribute to the Coyote’s lead. He made a reverse layup with three minutes left in the half making the score 22-11. Henderson made two shots at the end of the half giving his team some hope. But, Byther dunked his breakaway shot with three seconds left to silence the Hawks, awarding him a technical foul for gloating. Old Town led 34-17 at the end of the first half.
Henderson worked hard penetrating the paint to give the Hawks some baskets. However, Gomm and the Coyotes pushed the ball to increase their lead. Byther made a breakaway layup at the two minute mark to make the score 40-21. Sophomore forward, Brady Hurd, had a post move shortly after. At the end of the third Old Town led 45-25.
The Coyotes made sure to use every opportunity they got to advance their lead from the Hawk’s turnovers; ultimately winning 58-34. Byther was the lead scorer of the game with 19 points while Thibeault was just five away with 14.
Old Town will move on to face the tenth place Mount Desert Island Trojans in the Semifinals on Wednesday, February 21st at 10:00 a.m.
