Monsoon Monday Redux

Saturday's Game of the Day didn't look great at first. Maranacook raced out to an early lead that peaked at 18 in the first half. But Spruce Mountain battled back. They got it down to 14 at the half then used a strong 3rd quarter to whittle it to 5 before finally forcing overtime. In the overtime period, Jace Bessey fouled out rather early, but the Phoenix didn't die. They forced a second overtime and nearly a third before Keagan McClure drilled home the game-winner with 2 seconds left.

Maranacook win 76-74 in double-overtime.

Meanwhile, up north.

We've got our third 1,000-point scorer of the year.

Entering the game, Katahdin's Hunter Hartsgrove needed 32 points to get to 1K and with 5:41 left in the 3rd, she got it with a jumper.

It isn't often that either of the Southern Aroostook teams lose and even less often do they lose at home. But to both lose at home on the same night?

The Power Rankings are starting to get to the point where they're stabilizing, with one notable, yearly exception. Every year there's teams that are rated too low. Everyone knows they're rated too low. You know it. I know it. The people who go out of their way to tell me online definitely know it. And the reason is always the same: they haven't played anyone.

The concept is pretty simple. If you only play teams you should blow out, that doesn't tell us anything. We only get a sense of how good a team is when they're tested. Eventually, someone will test them. Sometimes, they fail that test and sometimes they pass it. Either way, that's when we find out what a team is made of.

Take, for example, Forest Hills. They've played #123 (twice), #131, and #115. None of those games have been close and there aren't any points to earn toward the rankings:

#123 Vinalhaven: 0.417 (x2)
#131 North Haven: 0.002
#115 Temple: 1.958

Meanwhile, Valley (their next opponent) is ranked 1 spot below them and they're 1-2. But...

#19 Richmond: 5.580 (48-49 loss)
#12 Mount Abram: 5.355 (47-57 loss)
#123 Vinalhaven: 0.417 (81-27 win)

We have a lot better idea of how good Valley is.

There's a bunch of these teams around the state. The Ellsworth girls. The Spruce Mountain girls. The Hall-Dale girls. The Lawrence girls. The St. Dom's boys.

They'll all get their chances.

Would you like to see some of the worst college basketball highlights you've ever seen?

The Maine Celtics wore some special Lewiston-themed uniforms last night.

It's been a good start to the year so far for Freeport, currently sitting in 2nd place in what figures to be a competitive A South. The Model has them 4th in the region after their loss on Friday to Greely. They'll host a Biddeford team that's 1-2 and sitting in 10th, but they've lost by a combined 5 points on the road to Wells and Fryeburg. They could easily be 3-0.

The rest of today's schedule is after the jump.