BANGOR — Jake Lapierre made two of the biggest plays of his basketball career, and they came within 23 seconds of each other.
First, Lapierre, a Winslow senior, made a steal with 23 seconds left to give the Black Raiders the ball down one point to Oceanside. After a timeout with 17 seconds to play, Lapierre scored on a putback as time expired, giving the Black Raiders a 39-38 win in the Class B North quarterfinals at the Cross Center.
“The rebound came down, and it was the final chance to do anything. I just went up for it, got my hands on it and it went right up over the rim and in,” Lapierre said.
No. 4 Winslow (16-3) moves on to the semifinals Wednesday night against either No 1 Hermon or No. 9 Belfast. No. 5 Oceanside finished 13-6.
Winslow trailed 38-35 with a minute to play. A Jack Morneault bucket with 57 seconds left after an Oceanside turnover cut the Mariners lead to one.
THE STEAL: Down one, the Black Raiders were in trapping defense mode to force the turnover.
“We had a zone trap on, so we’re trying to get the ball in the corners. We didn’t want to foul,” Winslow coach Ken Lindlof said. “We needed to step up and make plays defensively at the end to give ourselves a chance to do something.”
With Winslow’s guards causing havoc in the backcourt, Lapierre sat in the middle of the zone in back, with one Oceanside player between himself and the basket. When the Mariners tried to break the pressure with a lob pass, Lapierre was ready for it.
“I was the last one back, and the lob kind of went over my head. I did everything to get up and grab it and get it to one my guards. We needed that stop,” Lapierre said.
Lapierre’s steal came with 23 seconds left. After advancing the ball over midcourt, Winslow called timeout to set up its final scoring opportunity with 17 seconds left.
THE SHOT: “It was kind of crazy and nerve-wracking. It was hard to find an open shot. The defense was making sure that we weren’t getting a good look,” said Lapierre, who scored a team-high 11 points.
Lapierre said the play originally called for somebody to come off a screen to get the ball, with Lapierre posting up underneath. When that was clogged, Lapierre cleared out. That gave Hunter Campbell room to drive the lane and take a shot with approximately four seconds left. Campbell’s shot came off the rim to Lapierre, surrounded by Oceanside defenders, who may also have gotten a hand on the ball. Lapierre knew he had time to get off one last shot.
“We passed it around the perimeter until we could find a shot. Then the final shot happened, and the final rebound happened,” Lapierre said.
Added Lindlof: “Fortunately we had pretty good spacing. Hunter was able to take the ball. He got a good look. Then Jake put it in. That seemed like the only thing that went in the whole second half for us.”
THE MARINER COMEBACK: A Lapierre 3 with just over a minute left in the second quarter gave the Black Raiders a 26-12 lead. Winslow turnovers in the final minute of the first half helped Oceanside score four points and cut the halftime deficit to 26-16, and the Mariners maintained momentum deep into the third quarter. Oceanside opened the second half with a 9-0 run to pull within a point, 26-25, with 2:45 left. A Campbell layup finally broke Winslow’s cold streak.
“That was a function, I think, of us. They got a little renewed at the end of the half because they turned us over and had a little momentum. Nothing seemed to go really well for us. Even when we got good looks, we didn’t convert,” Lindlof said.
Michael Norton scored seven of his game-high 13 points in the third quarter, including a three at the buzzer to send the teams to the fourth quarter tied at 28-28. Lapierre said he wasn’t surprised by the Mariners’ comeback. The teams split a pair of games in the regular season, and Oceanside beat Winslow last week in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B title game.
“I knew they could do what they did. We had to keep composure once they did come back. This is playoffs. We’re in Bangor. Anything can happen,” Lapierre said. “You’ve got to expect the worst to happen and try to come up with the best you can.”
Wildes added 10 points for Winslow. While leading scorer Morneault was held to four points, he grabbed five boards for the Black Raiders.
“What we talk about is, defense and rebounding will bail you out on nights you’re not shooting well. This was a classic example,” Lindlof said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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