Basketball
Wildcats upset by Capers in quarter-finals, 61-50
By Stan Ross
YORK - Last Tuesday, Feb. 20, the York High School Wildcats lost in a Western Maine Class B quarter-final game at the Portland Expo to the Cape Elizabeth Capers, by the final score of 61 to 50.The Wildcats had finished the regular season 12 days ago with a record of 13-5 and were a number two seed in the HEAL standings. Cape qualified as a seven seed after beating number 10, Poland Regional, in a play-in game Feb. 15. York had defeated Cape at home on Dec. 22 and came from 13 points down to win, in double overtime, at Cape Elizabeth on Feb.6.
But as a veteran observer said, "It is tough to beat a high school team three times in one season."
The Capers, led by Co-Captains William Hall and Austin Brown, shot "lights-out" while the Wildcats struggled throughout. Dan Sheehan opened the scoring for the Wildcats on a feed from Phil Alibrandi, but Cape countered on a put back by 6'5" Nick Goodykoonz and an NBA trey from the wing by Hall (team high 20).
Zach Prugar pulled down a long rebound and went end-to-end to draw a foul and then drained a pair of free-throws. Alibrandi (game high 21) also went end-to-end for a bucket and Tony Romano scored on a put-back. But Thomas Ray scored on a pair of breakaways and Cape led 13-8 after just five minutes of action. Alibrandi added a pair of hoops for York, but Cape increased its lead to 19-12 at the quarter.
Prugar drained a trey from the wing for York, but Brown scored nine points in three minutes for Cape and they led 27-17 when they called time at the 5:16 mark. Then Alibrandi scored twice on his patented slash to the hoop, plus a trey from the top, but Hall countered with a trey from downtown and the Capers still led by 10, 36-26, at the half.
York tried to rally on a runner by Romano, a put-back by Alibrandi and a slash to the hoop by Joe Corsello, but the Capers countered with a pair of treys from the wing. Andrew Dickey scored four points for Cape as they built their lead to 48-33 at the end of three periods.
The Wildcats had come back from double digits before and, paced by a trey from the top by Corsello and a pair of free-throws by Bryce Fountain, they had cut the margin to eight, 52-44, when they called time with 3:53 to play. But Hall tallied four quick points and Cape went into a deep freeze. Romano picked up a steal and fed Alibrandi for a trey, but York still trailed 56-48 with just 1:45 to play.
Freshman Jason Gorman came off the bench to make his first appearance in a playoff and made two free-throws after being fouled on a put-back. York was forced to foul and Cape drained five free throws down the stretch to make the final score Cape 61, York 52.
The large crowd of faithful York followers was obviously disappointed, and they will miss the eight graduating seniors, but they can look forward to watching two returning juniors, one sophomore and one freshman, plus several candidates from the very successful JV team.
| York vs. Cape Elizabeth Score by Quarters |
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| Wildcats | 12 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 50 |
| Capers | 19 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 61 |
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York scorers: Gorman 2, Fountain 2, Romano 2, Prugar 7, Alibrandi 21, Corsello 14, Sheehan 2 Three pointers: Alibrandi 2, Prugar 1,Corsello 1 |
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