The Madawaska boys basketball team entered the Class C North regional tournament with a nearly perfect 17-1 record, and perhaps a little bit of the jitters.
The Owls escaped with a 54-52 win over Dexter on Monday night, and two emphatic dunks from Senior forward Sam Thibeault certainly helped them get comfortable under the bright lights of the Cross Insurance Center.
With about 40 seconds left in the first quarter and Madawaska down 9-7, Thibeault helped equalize and energize things for the Owls with a baseline dunk over a Dexter opponent.
“That definitely got rid of the nerves,” Thibeault said after the Monday night game. “It’s a lot of fun doing it.”
That fun continued in the second half against Dexter, with another dunk from Thibeault in transition off a pass from teammate Quinn Pelletier. That got the Madawaska team pumped up, and put them up 47-41 at a critical point in the game with under five minutes to play.
“I think we’re all feeling great. We had a rough start today, but I think we got the nerves out after this win,” Thibeault said Monday night.
He had a third big dunk of the tournament with about a minute left to go in Thursday’s game. That play electrified the Madawaska crowd and helped his team close out Calais in the semifinal matchup.
“I saw the lane and I’m like, ‘I’m gonna hammer this.’ So I did,” Thibeault said after Thursday’s game.
Madawaska will play in the Class C North championship on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. at the Cross Center in Bangor.
