The Davis Mann Experience

In the high school basketball landscape, there's all sorts of programs. There's your perennial contenders--you know the names--teams that are always in the mix, teams for which 5 years without a trip to a Regional Final would have people whispering about a coaching change. And then there's programs that have been...less successful. For some, a trip to the tournament is something to celebrate instead of a birthright and the trophy might be a little bit sparse.

The Hampden girls don't have the pedigree of the boys program, but I think we can safely put them in the category of perennial contenders. While they haven't taken home a Gold Ball since 1976, they've been right there nearly every year. And if you compare them to Mt. Ararat, there's no comparison, because last night was the first time a Mt. Ararat basketball team--boys or girls--had been in a State Championship game.

You would think the almost week between the Regional Final and the Friday Gold Ball Game would be enough for me to catch up on my sleep and become coherent, but you would be wrong.

Also I just want to say that I've been in Portland a lot lately, but every time I'm in Augusta I'm convinced the ACC is far and away the best (current) venue. The Bangor Auditorium is obviously the GOAT.

Anyway, the Mt. Ararat faithful were hyped, at least until it was time to introduce Hampden's players.

It seemed clear early the seeding was...accurate. Mt. Ararat, the 1 seed in the south, raced out to a 5-0 lead and Hampden's big Grace LeBree was on the bench with 2 fouls. It was a pretty rough start for the Broncos, but they were only down 5. And when Paige Richard hit a 3 two minutes later, they were tied.

Mt. Ararat pulled back out to a lead, this time 13-6, and it really looked Hampden was in a dangerous spot where Mt. Ararat could blow it open. But Katelyn Adams hit a 3 to stop the bleeding and at the half they were only down 2.

It seemed clear from the first half that Mt. Ararat was the better team, but they were struggling from the field. Really struggling. They shot 28% from the floor in the first half and 11% from 3 (that got worse) and you had to wonder what the Lawrence players in the stands were thinking.

Just like the start of the game, Mt. Ararat opened the half of a 5-0 run. And just like the first quarter, Hampden got a 3, this time from Caitlin Murphy. Every time it looked like the Eagles would run away and hide, the Broncos got a big shot to stay within striking distance.

But as time wound down, Hampden had to foul to stop the clock and Mt. Ararat delivered at the line. They went 12/14 in the 4th quarter to put the game away and claim the first basketball Gold Ball in school history.

Julianna Allen decidedly won the battle of the bigs with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots (and helped hold LeBree to 2). Jenna Jensen added 7 & 7.

As you might have heard, this Falmouth roster has 12 seniors on it, and what a run they've had. Last year's first round exit aside, they lost a heartbreaking State Championship game to Brewer by 1 in their sophomore year, and lost in the State Championship game their freshman year to a Nokomis team led by another pair of freshmen, Cooper and Ace Flagg. I wonder whatever happened to those guys?

After winning a classic of a Regional Final against Noble, Falmouth entered the game as a sizable favorite and when Falmouth started the game of a 6-0 Davis Mann run that seemed like a pretty accurate read. Messo got their feet under them, but when Davis Mann stole the ball from Sean Achorn and scored his 12th point of the game, it looked like they might go on a run and put Messo away. It certainly seemed like they had a big run in them just waiting to explode.

Instead, it was Messo who went on the run. The Eagles ripped off a 16-2 run to close the half with Ty Bernier scoring 7 of them and when Ryan Parent's 3 put them up 28-19 at the half, the Falmouth fans were in shock.

Messo stretched the lead to 12 in the 3rd on another Bernier bucket (and, man, he made some pretty shots that are going to be lost to history). Again, it felt like Falmouth had a run in them. Billy Birks hit a 3 to cut the lead to 7, but Messo answered and took it back to double-digits. Davis Mann beat the buzzer with an and-1 play and then started the 4th quarter with a steal and dunk to cut it to 5, but Messo answered and Ty Bernier's 3 got the lead back to 11. Mann scored again to get it back to 5, but again Messo answered and with 3 minutes left led 50-40.

Let's go to 1:28 left out of a Falmouth timeout with Messo up 53-47 with the ball. It's a 3 possession game, but as Rob Kennedy asked on the broadcast, would they get 3 more possessions? Well, Falmouth's defense got a 5 second count on the inbounds. Then Cameron found Mann for a 3 on the BLOB. Then David Gravier drew a charge on the next inbounds. Mann missed a three to tie it, but Billy Birks tracked down the offensive rebound and found Mann, who drove the lane and picked up the foul. He hit both free throws and Falmouth cut the 6 point lead to 1 in 21 seconds.

Falmouth fouled Ryan Parent, who made 1 of 2, Mann missed on the other end and in a mad scramble that went all the way to the backcourt, Falmouth retained possession. Mann drove the lane and with all the attention on him, flipped the ball over his shoulder to David Gravier for a layup to tie the game.

Messo called time with 20.5 seconds left and let's go to the tape.

Free basketball! As you might imagine, the ACC is going nuts.

As we've seen a couple of times in the tourney this year, a dramatic comeback like this can be deflating for the other team and the shortness that is overtime can make it difficult to have a very natural period of being shellshocked and have enough time to recover. Which is to say that it was all Falmouth after that. They closed the game on a 30-10 run and Davis Mann finished with 43 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a blocked shot--a performance for the ages that had us all scrambling for the record book.

That Bedard game is on YouTube, by the way.

Look at that mustache!

Ty Bernier had 24 for the Eagles in a performance that deserved a better outcome. Parker Reynolds had 7 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots.

After the game, I spoke to the Mann of the Hour (sorry).

I think we have to ask the question: for the second year in a row did the Mr. Basketball committee blow it and eliminate someone too soon? And what possible reason is there to go to the finalists with games left on the schedule? I get that there's the banquet already scheduled, but they couldn't meet on Sunday and announce the finalists on Monday morning? Because I think we can agree Mann has a very strong case to be a finalist. 43 in a State Game. 39 in the semi-final. A Gold Ball. Runner-up freshman and sophomore years. People have won with worse resumes. It just seems like an unforced error to not factor in the biggest game of a career.

I'm putting Travis Lee's tweet in here because you have to see some of these late highlights. WMTW cameraman Joe Bailey did a great job.

We have 8 games left and I think it's safe to say the Live Stats have been a massive success. There's been a couple of glitches, but everyone I've talked to loves having them.

The York boys have been on an impressive run the last couple of weeks, culminating with a win over then #1 Medomak Valley.

The Caribou boys have been a wagon, but were severely tested by an Orono team that botched a late game foul situation and very nearly got bailed out by a miracle heave by Will Francis.

This should be a really, really good game and based on Caribou's history in Portland, the crowd will be incredibly vibrant and, well, drunk.

I'm very much looking forward to this.