BANGOR, Maine — Emmitt Byther outscored the entire Ellsworth team in the first quarter.
More importantly for the sensational senior from Old Town, his seventh-seeded Coyotes outlasted the second-seeded Eagles to claim the first big upset in the Class B North tournament at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor Friday night.
Old Town won 47-34.
Byther said the key to the win was “working together and just doing our thing, focusing on our game.”
He hit a major career milestone in Old Town’s previous game by reaching the 1,000 point mark, but did not hesitate when asked whether the points or the win felt better.
“The win tonight definitely, this is one step closer to a bigger goal,” Byther said.
Old Town knocked off the talented Ellsworth squad, which had gone 16-2 in the regular season.
The defensive powerhouse Ellsworth struggled to score for much of the first half, held to just two points in the first quarter and finished the half with 11. That vaunted defense kept them in the game, however, and kept it close for most of the second half.
“Our defense was good enough to win that game,” Ellsworth coach Matt Mattson said after the loss. “You can’t score 30-some-odd points and win. You can’t go 12 minutes without a field goal, which is what happened early.”
Byther’s 21 points led the game, and his free throw shooting in particular proved crucial down the stretch. But the two biggest baskets for the Coyotes were provided by Ethan Closson, whose two 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter gave Old Town the bit of breathing room they needed.
“It felt pretty good. The bench was fired up, I got fired up with them,” Closson said after the game. “Hitting them right in front of your bench is the best part, because you get to celebrate with your guys.”
Byther made 10 free throws in the fourth quarter, and the Coyotes cruised to a comfortable upset win in the final minutes.
“Byther is an animal that we just hope to contain. I thought we did a decent job on him,” Mattson said.
It was a disappointing end to the season for the Eagles, whose defensive effort was never in doubt Friday night. But they struggled to put the ball in the hoop, encapsulated perfectly by an offensive possession in the final minutes where Ellsworth had both a 3-pointer and a close-range put-back go in-and-out.
Brayden King led the scoring for the Eagles with 10 points, followed by Hollis Grindal with 9.
“This league is a grind, and we could not find a basket earlier in that game,” Mattson said. He credited Old Town for responding every time Ellsworth looked like it might come back.
“You’ve got to give Old Town credit. Every time we came back, they’d get a stop,” said Mattson, citing the Closson 3-pointers.
“They played really well. They were ready for us,” Mattson added.
Old Town moves on to play neighboring Orono on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Cross Center.
