The Final Countdown

It was a big night in the [Maine Principal's] Association, so we'll start with the big story: the third game in the epic series between the Madawaska girls and Van Buren.

If you're just joining us, back in December the Madawaska girls took a 10-2 lead into the locker room, got shutout in the second half, and hung on by their fingernails for a 10-9 win.

In the re-match, the scoring improved dramatically and Van Buren won 29-25 in a game where both teams improved on their season high in scoring.

Neither team is going to make the tournament, but as luck would have it, they play 3 times this year. So here we go!

Madawaska drew first blood, but Van Buren went on a 6-0 run to finish the first quarter. Then the defenses traded stops for a little over 8 minutes and Van Buren took a 7-4 lead into the locker room

In the third, Van Buren hit their second 3 of the game (Yes, I watched the whole game) to stretch their lead to 12-6 with roughly 4 minutes left in the 3rd. At the end of 3, Van Buren led 12-8.

Then more defense until Van Buren scored in consecutive possessions in the final 2 minutes. They win the rubber match, 16-8.

In the Game of the Night, Penobscot Valley beat Mattanawcook to clinch a bye in C North. They'll be the 3. Mattanawcook will be the 4.

Easton's Owen Sweeney entered last night's regular season finale 58 points shy of 1,000. Easton is comfortably in the tournament, so reaching the mark in the quarterfinals was well within reach. But as saying goes, tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. So when he scored 15 in the first quarter and 17 in the second, why not go for it?

He didn't quite get there, but he poured in 56 points to get so very close.

But, he did break the school scoring record of 46, set by Mark Page all the way back in 1981.

Elsewhere...

Tessa Ferguson had a career-high 27 as OOB rolled...Carter Norton led Mount Blue with 21 in their win over Gardiner...Brayden Monto gave Buckfield 29 to lead the way against Islesboro...Peyton Reckards' double-double of 28 & 14 and Nathan Corey's 24 paced Temple...Lilly Roy had 32 for Wisdom...Jaydn Pingree had 22 for Spruce.

It's the last day of the regular season, the day I really, really hope I don't have a score wrong...somewhere...and a lot has been settled..

But a lot hasn't!

I built a quick and easy version of the Tourney Odds in Google Sheets that automatically updates every 10 minutes after a score is put in the Scoreboard, so we should know pretty quickly. I've embedded them below the Tourney Odds, so we'll see how well it holds up under pressure.

Travis Lee has a fantastic story about Cape's Andrew Perruzzi that you really should watch.

We have yet another team blatantly flaunting the laws of common decency and sportsmanship, but before we get there, I need to make sure you're sitting down.

Imagine this is that kid's book where Grover doesn't want you to turn the page, because what's on the other side is so heinous, so egregious, that the MPA will surely have to get involved.

Ready?

The Searsport student section turned around during the Sumner player introductions.

That's it.

HOWEVER.

These people presumably lived through the 90s.

If you go to the Facebook post, the comments are ridiculous, a real one-upmanship of prove you have no idea what you're talking about. It's been shared a lot of times and I'm considering it a badge of honor that of all the people who have sent me this, none of them were outraged. They all thought it was incredibly dumb. But you should read the comments, because these are real people who theoretically go to as many as one (1) basketball game a year. I'd lay a hefty bet on DraftKings that they can't explain the over and back rule.

I'd lay a bigger bet on this:

One of the great things about high school sports is a lively, vibrant student section giving their all to help the team. It's an essential part of the atmosphere. Do they cross a line sometimes? Of course. Should they? Absolutely. Did the Searsport students? Not even close.

Just imagine the Sumner parents reacting to this:

Or this:

Or anything the Cameron Crazies do.

You've probably seen this elsewhere, but tickets are cashless this year. You've got to get them online.

We'll head to the big city, where Cheverus will host Portland in a AA North matchup.

The math here is simple: winner get the 2 seed and a quarterfinal matchup with 1-16 Bangor. Loser gets the 3 and 5-12 Edward Little.

Cheverus won the first matchup, but that was all the way back before Christmas.

Should be a good one!

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