Mar. 3—Jacob Corson’s three-point play with 1:53 left in overtime gave Old Town the lead for good and the Coyotes went on to edge Hermon 53-50 in their Big East Class B boys basketball pod quarterfinal Tuesday night in Hermon.
With the game tied at 48-48, the senior guard gained possession of the ball on the left wing. With his defender sagging back toward the lane, Corson drove to the basket. By the time the defender reacted, Corson went up for a runner from the lane.
Contact ensued, but Corson made the contested shot and then added the free throw to give coach Garrett Libby’s club a 51-48 edge.
Hermon immediately countered as senior forward Eli Reed fed junior forward Trey Brown for a right-side jumper to pull the Hawks within 51-50, but Old Town got the key countering basket as sophomore guard Gabe Gifford found classmate Braydon Brown for a fast-break layup.
Hermon tried to get the ball to Reed for a potential, game-tying, 3-point try in the final seconds, but the play was well defended and Reed was unable to get a clean look. Old Town celebrated its second three-point victory of the season over the Hawks.
Fifth-seeded Old Town (8-5 overall, 5-5 in pod play) will play at top-seeded Ellsworth in a semifinal either Friday or Saturday. Ellsworth advanced with a 56-43 win over No. 8 Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor on Tuesday night.
Fourth-seeded Hermon finished its season at 5-8 overall, 5-7 in the Class B pod.
Senior guard Shawn Hoogterp paced Old Town offensively with 15 points, 13 in the second half. Corson added 10 points, nine after intermission, while senior guard Matt Seymour finished with nine points and Braydon Brown contributed eight.
Trey Brown’s 15 points led Hermon, while Eli Reed scored 11 and senior guard Jaeden Henderson and senior forward Brady Reed added eight points apiece.
This largest lead for either team, in this rematch of a 2020 Class B North quarterfinal won by Old Town, was six points. The Coyotes held a 17-11 edge at the end of the opening quarter after back-to-back baskets by Brown.
Hermon scored the first six points of the second quarter and went on to limit Old Town to two free throws in the period while outscoring the Coyotes 10-2 to take a 21-19 intermission lead.
Old Town led for most of the second half, but never by more than four points. The tightly contested battle included a wild finish at the end of regulation.
Hoogterp buried a 3-pointer from the left of the key to give Old Town a 46-43 lead with 7.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but Reed took the ensuing inbounds pass and dribbled up the center of the court. He launched a shot from within the center circle just inside frontcourt.
The 38-footer touched nothing but net as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to an extra four minutes of play.
