Bad second half dooms Boothbay boys versus Mt. Abram
Point guard Kayden Ames shoots an 8-footer in the lane against Mt. Abram on Feb. 8. The Roadrunners sped away with a 58-45 victory at Porter Memorial Gymnasium. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Mt. Abram’s Trevor Phelps battles Boothbay’s Lucas Hardwick for a rebound Feb. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Boothbay guard Giovanni Warren makes a pass to teammate Lucas Hardwick after diving for a loose ball versus Mt. Abram on Feb. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Point guard Kayden Ames scored four points in Boothbay’s loss to Mt. Abram, 58-45, on Feb. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
What goes up, must come down. Boothbay senior Jordan Carrier waits for a rebound Feb. 8 against Mt. Abram. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Battle of the boards. No. 34 Jordan Carrier and No. 24 Giovanni Warren converge for a rebound as two Mt. Abram players also seek the elusive ball. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Up for two. Point guard Kayden Ames drives the lane Feb. 8 versus Mt. Abram on Senior Night. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Point guard Kayden Ames shoots an 8-footer in the lane against Mt. Abram on Feb. 8. The Roadrunners sped away with a 58-45 victory at Porter Memorial Gymnasium. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Mt. Abram’s Trevor Phelps battles Boothbay’s Lucas Hardwick for a rebound Feb. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Boothbay guard Giovanni Warren makes a pass to teammate Lucas Hardwick after diving for a loose ball versus Mt. Abram on Feb. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Point guard Kayden Ames scored four points in Boothbay’s loss to Mt. Abram, 58-45, on Feb. 8. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
What goes up, must come down. Boothbay senior Jordan Carrier waits for a rebound Feb. 8 against Mt. Abram. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Battle of the boards. No. 34 Jordan Carrier and No. 24 Giovanni Warren converge for a rebound as two Mt. Abram players also seek the elusive ball. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Up for two. Point guard Kayden Ames drives the lane Feb. 8 versus Mt. Abram on Senior Night. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
For one half, No. 15 Boothbay nearly matched No. 7 Mt. Abram basket for basket in Class C South boys’ basketball. Mt. Abram clung to a 25-23 lead between the two Mountain Valley Conference schools on Feb. 8 at Porter Memorial Gymnasium. But then came a disastrous third quarter where the Roadrunners outscored the Seahawks 20-9 and sped away with a 58-45 victory.
In the first half, Boothbay handled the Roadrunner intense half-court and full-court defensive pressure, but too many turnovers led to too many easy transition layups in the second half. Boothbay fell to 5-12. Mt. Abram is now 10-7 and enjoying its best season in years.
The 2021-22 basketball season has been victimized by COVID-19. At best, players must play wearing masks. At worst, the virus has caused teams to play without key players. The virus has definitely taken a toll on Boothbay coach Dan Halinan’s squad. The Seahawks have played without key personnel several times throughout the season. But now, he has a full healthy roster with thoughts moving onto the postseason.
“The first half we played well, but in the second, it all came apart,” he said. “I think it’s mostly due to inexperience. Some players didn’t play last year due to COVID, and this year, we’ve lost players to sickness. The job now is finding out who we are as a team. In our final game, we need players to identify their roles to become the team we should be.”
Senior Matt Sullivan was Boothbay’s leading scorer with 15. Other Seahawk scorers were Gryffin Kristan, 12; Lucas Hardwick, eight; Kayden Ames, four; and Sam Page, Giovanni Warren and Jordan Carrier, two each.
Boothbay hosts No. 9 Madison (9-7) in the regular season’s final game at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10. Maine Principal’s Association is holding an open high school boys and girls tournament beginning in February. Shortly after the final regular season game, Boothbay should know who its preliminary round opponent is.
