BANGOR, Maine — With Orono’s starting point guard out sick, senior forward Will Francis brought an infectious amount of effort to the floor Tuesday night and willed his Red Riots team to a 54-51 win over rival Old Town Wednesday night.
Francis led both teams with 24 points and had the ball in his hands frequently with junior point guard Brady Hews out sick. Francis’ performance on both offense and defense is a big reason why the Red Riots are now going to yet another Class B North regional final.
“It feels really big. Getting back to that northern Maine final for a fourth year in a row, it feels great,” Francis said after the win. “Especially to beat those guys, the cross town rivals. It’s always fun to play against them in big games, and it always just feels more competitive.”
Orono is still in the hunt for a third consecutive Class B state title.
The No. 7 Coyotes from Old Town were looking for back-to-back upsets after knocking out No. 2 Ellsworth last week. Old Town once again was bolstered by senior forward Emmitt Byther, who led the team with 17 points, along with another night of timely 3-point shooting from sophomore guard Ethan Closson, who had 13. Senior center Brady Paradis added nine points with a lot of hard work down low throughout the night.
A big 3-pointer by Old Town sophomore Tyler Priest cut the game to two and kept it in reach for the Coyotes, but time ultimately ran out on their upset run.
Orono coach Ed Kohtala said the rivalry game, the third matchup between these two teams this season, lived up to expectations. He said he was proud of his team, and with a lot on the line, they did “just enough” to get the win.
“It’s always fun to play against those guys,” Francis added about Old Town. “We’re good friends but we’re also rivals on the basketball court.”
Francis said he and his coach discussed the role he would need to play in Hews’ absence.
“I was going to have to handle the ball a lot tonight. A lot of the shots were going to be mine. Because Brady is a great point guard, great facilitator, great scorer,” Francis explained. “He gets a lot of our shots for us. Coach said, ‘This is going to have to be your game, you’re gonna have to handle the ball, you’re going to have to score a lot.’”
“I went out and did what I had to,” Francis added. There was little doubt about that.
His hustle on both ends of the court helped keep his team in the game after a strong start by Old Town. A pair of Francis steals led to some hugely consequential points in the first half, including an and-1 basket to tie it at 20-20 followed by a shot in the lane that gave Orono the lead. A reporter may have imagined it, but it sounded like the Orono students started chanting “you can’t stop him” after that second bucket.
Orono junior guard Bergen Soderberg added 15 points and senior forward Noah Schaff had 10 in the win. The Red Riots will play in the regional final on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
