Boothbay boys top Winthrop, 54-45
Boothbay forward Dylan Plummer drives to the basket Dec. 22 in the Seahawks’ 54-45 victory at Porter Memorial Gymnasium. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Forward Finn Harkins scored four points Dec. 22 in Boothbay’s 54-45 victory over Winthrop. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Gryffin Kristan connected on four three-pointers and scored 22 points Dec. 22 in Boothbay’s 54-45 victory over Winthrop. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Boothbay point guard Kayden Ames drives past a Winthrop defender Dec. 22. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Boothbay forward Dylan Plummer drives to the basket Dec. 22 in the Seahawks’ 54-45 victory at Porter Memorial Gymnasium. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Forward Finn Harkins scored four points Dec. 22 in Boothbay’s 54-45 victory over Winthrop. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Gryffin Kristan connected on four three-pointers and scored 22 points Dec. 22 in Boothbay’s 54-45 victory over Winthrop. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Boothbay point guard Kayden Ames drives past a Winthrop defender Dec. 22. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
For the Boothbay boys’ basketball team, this season may be all about accountability. On Dec. 22, the Seahawks trailed Winthrop, 24-17, midway through the second quarter. Boothbay struggled with turnovers, missed open shots and defensive lapses. But as the game progressed, Boothbay started putting all the pieces together in scoring a come-from-behind-victory at Porter Memorial Gymnasium, 54-45. For coach Dan Hallinan, the game was all about accountability.
“At halftime, I called a few guys out for being undisciplined and it made all the difference. It was a game of two halves,” Hallinan said. Boothbay was led offensively by Gryffin Kristan who led all scorers with 22 points including four three-pointers. He hit a buzzer-beater ending the third quarter giving his team a 37-36 lead. “I was thinking, it was about time,” Kristan said. “I had a hard time hitting some free throws and missed some other shots. So it felt pretty darn good winning tonight.”
In the past six years, Winthrop has been a tough hill to climb for Mountain Valley Conference opponents in winning two regional and one state championship title. The Ramblers are 3-2 in early season action. This year’s team is a tough, physical squad. “They have a different team than in the past. They don’t have as many scorers and shooters, but they are a physical, crazy defensive machine,” said point guard Kayden Ames who scored eight points. “For us, it was about waking up, and matching up to their physicality. Once we did that, it was a different game.”
Boothbay also received a big boost from the bench. Luke Morley and Drew Meader sparked the team on both ends of the court. Morley scored eight points. Meader scored four points.
“I can’t say enough for Drew’s performance. He played great defense and gave us a lot of energy out there,” Hallinan said. The coach also had praise for Morley’s effort. “He is one of the guys who responded well to being held accountable,” he said.
Other Seahawk scorers were Finn Harkins with four, Ryan Amaral with three and Dylan Plummer with two.
Boothbay improved to 2-2. The Seahawks’ next game is a make-up contest versus Class B Lisbon at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Dec. 30 at Porter Memorial Gymnasium.
