Sports Insider by Frank Coppola: Traip denied trip to regional championship

February 22, 2008

Traip denied trip to regional championship

By Mike Zhe
AUGUSTA, Maine — All season long it was the elephant in the room, even a room that was elegantly furnished with a 17-1 record.

But ballhandling against heavy pressure was a real concern for Traip Academy, and that’s one of things that kept it from reaching its first Western Maine Class C boys basketball final in seven years Thursday night.

The third-seeded Rangers battled back gallantly from an early dose of adversity at the Augusta Civic Center, but had no answer for a late one, falling 59-46 to No. 2 Winthrop.

“I think we concentrated so much on defense that we might not have been focused enough on handling the ball,” Traip coach Jeremy Paul said. “We’ve had easier times against tougher pressure.”

The final score was deceiving. The Rangers (17-2) led by three early in the third quarter — after falling behind by 12 practically out of the gate — but then got buried under a landslide of turnovers and hot Winthrop shooting.

“They had a good full-court press that kind of got us out of our game,” guard Brennen Connor said, “and we couldn’t get back in it.”

Mountain Valley Conference runner-up Winthrop (19-1) advances to Saturday night’s regional final here against top-seeded Dirigo, a 48-45 winner over No. 4 Boothbay in overtime on Thursday.

Up 26-23 after Trevor Higgins made a pair of free throws early in the third quarter, everything fell apart for the Rangers. While 6-foot-4 Ramblers forward Larry Foster (17 points, all in second half) was scoring from inside and out, Traip’s offense got out of synch.

“Once we got over halfcourt, we seemed to rush the shots,” said guard Tyler Metevier.

“Halfway crazy,” summed up Paul.

A Foster 3-pointer kicked off a 12-2 run that put the Ramblers ahead 35-28. They led 38-30 and were holding for a final shot to close out the third when a bizarre sequence unfolded.

First, Traip forced an over-and-back, and Winthrop coach Dennis Ducas was whistled for a technical foul for leaving the coaches’ box. Higgins made one free throw to cut the lead to seven.

But the Rangers turned the ball over while holding for their final shot, and then fouled guard Sam LeClerc during a 3-pointer. LeClerc (19 points) made all three shots to make it 41-31.

All that was left after that was for Connor to bank in a shot from halfcourt at the buzzer — which he did, to make it 41-34. But that would be the final highlight of the night for Traip; the deficit never got any smaller.

Rugged forward Eric Modica led the Rangers with 16 points. Metevier had 14 but Higgins, the team’s leading scorer, was held to five and fouled out with more than six minutes left.

“Trevor’s a big threat,” said Metevier. “Having him on the bench definitely hurts.”

The Rangers trailed 14-2 midway through the opening period, committing eight turnovers in the frame. But Metevier gave them a spark with back-to-back steals and layups, and they closed the quarter on a 6-0 run.

Things looked bleak when guard Higgins was whistled for his third foul and had to leave the game with 6:23 left in the second and his team down 19-10. Instead, his teammates rallied.

Behind a pair of 3-pointers by Metevier, the Rangers rolled off a 12-0 run, one fueled by defense and aided by five straight Winthrop misses at the foul line.

Andrew Smithgall ended the drought with a follow in the final seconds, but the Rangers jogged into the locker room with a 22-21 lead and their fans on their feet.

“The first run we responded pretty well,” said Metevier. “We’ve been doing that all season. But that second run, they just came out on fire and we didn’t get the shots we wanted.”

Paul has seen his team bounce back from adversity most of the season. Unfortunately, it only had one bounce-back in it on Thursday.

“I thought we were ready,” he said. “And being up at halftime, I thought we were going to step up and do it. But they put it together and we didn’t.”

NOTES: Traip hasn’t reached the regional finals since 2000-01. … Modica and Connor are the only returning starters next year for the Rangers. … LeClerc was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Mr. Maine Basketball award earlier in the day.

Winthrop 59, Traip 46
TRAIP (46)
Metevier 5-2-14, Connor 2-0-5, Abbott 3-0-6, Modica 7-2-16, Higgins 1-3-5. Totals: 18-7-46.

WINTHROP (59)
Gingras 3-2-8, Foster 7-1-17, Farrington 1-0-2, Damm 4-0-9, LeClerc 7-3-19, Smithgall 1-0-2, Ketchen 1-0-2. Totals: 24-6-59.

Traip 8 14 12 12—46
Winthrop 14 7 20 18—59
3-point goals—Traip 3: Metevier 2, Connor. Winthrop 5: LeClerc 2, Foster 2, Damm. Fouled out: Higgins.

Posted by Frank Coppola at February 22, 2008 12:22 AM

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