They may have suffered their first loss of the season but the Boothbay Region High School Varsity Seahawk boys have finished the first half of the regular season with two more wins and are currently seeded number three in the recent Heal point standings.

The lone 1-point setback that knocked Boothbay from the ranks of the unbeaten came at the hands of the Mountain Valley Falcons Thursday, Jan. 3 in Rumford. The Seahawks trailed by four going into the final quarter, used a late rally to close the gap, and came close to a walking out with a win as a last second shot came up short in the 47-46 decision. 

John Hepburn led the attack with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Anthony DiMauro handed out five assists to go along with four steals. Andrew Hallinan finished with four assists and four steals as well.

Two nights later, the Hall-Dale Bulldogs came to town to help provide another down to the wire affair as the Seahawks held on for a teeth-wrenching 52-50 victory, despite major woes at the free throw line down the stretch. (Click here for photos of the game.)

Two free throws by the visiting Bulldogs cut the lead to five with just over two minutes to play before Linc Simmons got open inside and scored on a pass from DiMauro. 

But just one of eight from the line in the last two minutes allowed Hall-Dale to score six straight and pull to within a point with 22 seconds showing before Hallinan hit one of two from the line and secure the victory. On the night the Seahawks were woeful four for thirteen at the line. 

John Hepburn again led with 18 points while Linc Simmons poured in 12 points to go along with eight rebounds. Anthony DiMauro was again held under double digits in scoring but found other ways to contribute as the senior pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out eight assists.

On Tuesday, Jan. 8 the Seahawks earned their eighth victory with a 67-47 win at Wiscasset, as they claimed the first of two battles with their long time rival.

After a scoreless first two minutes the Seahawks scored the first nine points as Anthony DiMauro got it going with a 3-point play and then found John Hepburn on the break. Hepburn returned the favor as the offense started to produce backdoor cuts along with transition opportunities. 

A 15-footer from Hepburn came around the first two field goals of the night for the host Wolverines as Austin Haskell scored from the lane and hit a jumper from the wing. 

Andrew Hallinan sneaked inside for a deuce before Dale Peaslee cut the Wiscasset deficit to seven (13-6) after eight minutes.

John Hepburn scored four of the next six points on a pair of free throws and a put back of his own miss and Evan Hepburn took a steal the distance. After a hoop by Haskell, DiMauro continued to find gaps as he drove for a layup and Kam Markee scored off from a miss.

The Wolverines hit six of nine from the charity stripe in the second period and had pulled to within ten with 2:26 left in the frame when the Seahawks went on another run as they finished the half on a 14-3 spurt. 

DiMauro hit two from the line and scored on a steal before Hallinan and Markee connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. Shawn Simmons drained a two from just inside the circle and Linc Simmons put back a miss as the Seahawks went to the break up 43-22.

DiMauro scored twice more in the early going of the third period, John Hepburn hit from just inside the arc before brother Evan connected for a 3-pointer but the visitors were held to just 11 points in the period while Wiscasset put up fourteen but stilled trailed by eighteen.

DiMauro led the scoring for Boothbay with 22 points and seven assists while John Hepburn added 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Seahawks get back at it Friday, Jan. 11 as they host Telstar in the first half of a boys/girls varsity doubleheader at Porter Memorial.