It began with a Nolan Hagerty pass inside to Alex Medenica for a lay-up.
Then a Hagerty cross-court toss to Bailey Darling, who drained a 3-pointer.
And so it went. Yarmouth kept on scoring.
Marancook mostly missed Thursday night, as this Class B South boys’ basketball semifinal quickly turned into a mismatch.
Third-seeded Yarmouth routed the second-ranked Black Bears 69-51 at Cross Insurance Arena.
Medenica paced Yarmouth with 25 points. Darling scored 13 and Musseit M’Bareck added 10. Hagerty finished with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocked shots.
Levi Emery scored 16 and Kyle Wilbur 13 for Maranacook.
Yarmouth (15-5) advanced to the final at 3:45 p.m. Saturday against top-ranked Lake Region (18-2). The Clippers’ only loss to a Class B school came Feb. 2 at Lake Region, 65-53.
Maranacook (17-3) lost its second game to Yarmouth, the first one coming in December, 70-60.
This one was decided early because the Black Bears couldn’t get a basket, shooting 14 percent in the first half. Yarmouth took an 8-0 lead, then 17-4 after one quarter and 35-13 at halftime. The Clippers shot 60 percent in the first half.
“They picked us apart,” Maranacook Coach Rob Schmidt said. “They did a great job moving the ball and getting open looks.
“And they hit just about everything they put up, and we hit absolutely nothing we put up … and you’re not going to climb out of a deep hole against a team like that.”
Maranacook came out in its zone defense and Yarmouth simply passed around it.
“We knew today it was really important to move the ball around,” said Hagerty. “When they pack in the zone, if I drove in someone would be open. You just have to look for the open people.”
And if the 6-7 Medenica is open, Hagerty gets him the ball. “He can take on anyone in the post,” Hagerty said.
Initially scoring on drives and inside jumpers, Medenica showed his range by starting the second half with a 3-pointer.
“We came out and did exactly what we wanted to do, which is play Yarmouth basketball – getting good looks and not rushing anything,” Medenica said.
Medenica said the Clippers were especially motivated not to repeat semifinal defeats the previous two years. This is the first time Yarmouth has reached a regional final since 2012, when it went on to win the state title.
“We played just a great first half,” Coach Adam Smith said. “It was as much mental as it was physical. We were ready. We haven’t done well in the semis the last couple of years.”
Smith’s biggest challenge was to keep his team fired up. The Clippers got sloppy at times in the second half and Smith was animated despite the lead.
“A loss of focus and concentration,” Smith said. “I called a couple of timeouts but it just was not the same.
“They had so much energy and focus to start the game with – I was so pleased with those 16 minutes – there was going to be a little letdown. Plus Maranacook never gave up.”
Still, Yarmouth kept the lead at 22 after the third quarter, and let it slip only a little in the fourth.
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