BANGOR, Maine — In their previous two games, the Mattanawcook Academy boys basketball team fell behind early and had to claw their way back into it.
That wasn’t the case for the Lynx on Saturday during the Class C boys North regional championship, as they sprinted out to an 11-0 start against the Owls from Madawaska.
Madawaska responded with their own 7-0 run, and the gritty team from Aroostook County kept the game interesting until the end. But the Mattanawcook offense was firing on all cylinders at the Cross Insurance Center on Saturday night, on the way to an 81-71 win for the Lynx.
That may seem like a lot of points, but sophomore forward True Weatherbee explained that it was “another day” for an offense that scored over 100 points three times during the regular season, including a 115-point showing in early February. That offensive firepower might help explain how the team from Lincoln has been able to stay perfect so far this season, now with a 21-0 record heading into the state championship.
“When we can get out in transition and run, we can shoot the lights out,” Mattanawcook coach Adam Mahaney said. “We want to get out, we want to run, we want to push the tempo and start hitting some shots. And good things are going to happen, and that’s what happened today.”
Weatherbee was asked what he thought the win meant to the town of Lincoln.
“I think it means the world, not only to us, but to everyone in Lincoln,” Weatherbee responded. “This is the second time the boys have ever won the regional championship. It’s been 70 years since we did it before. I think it’s great for everyone in the community.”
Mattanawcook will now play Mt. Abram of Salem Township in the Class C state championship on Saturday, March 1. That clash of number one seeds will start at 8:45 p.m.
Sophomore guard Kooper McCarthy led the Lynx in scoring with 28 on Saturday night, continuing to show why the Lynx coach says McCarthy “makes the wheels go on this bus.” Junior forward Andrew Oliver added 18 points for Mattanawcook.
Even with those impressive performances, there was little question that the best player on the court Saturday night was an eighth grader, Quinn Pelletier from Madawaska. The eighth grade phenom scored a staggering 43 points and kept his team within reach in the fourth quarter, but the all-around team effort from Mattanawcook just couldn’t be stopped.
Junior guard Isaac Beaulieu added 12 points for the Owls, and senior forward Sam Thibeault added two more momentum-packed dunks late in the third quarter when his team needed a boost.
“We had a great run, we enjoyed it. We loved the atmosphere,” Madawaska coach Shawn Pelletier said after the loss. “The boys did great all week. This was a tough one tonight. I think we created a lot of mistakes on our own, didn’t match their intensity at the beginning. Some things didn’t go our way in the game, but the boys fought back.”
Pelletier also noted that Madawaska is a smaller school relative to other teams at this stage in the Class C tournament.
“We fought as well as we could and we did our best, and we’re going to be right back next year trying again,” the Madawaska coach said.
