By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR — It wasn’t supposed to end like this for the Washburn boys basketball team. All the pieces seemed to be in place for a lengthy postseason run, which might culminate with the team winning a regional Class D title.
Aroostook Republican photo/Joseph Cyr
Washburn’s Chase Chandler loses the handle on the ball as he tries to penetrate to the hoop Saturday evening. Defending on the play is Deer Isle-Stonigton’s Connor Morey.
But a funny thing can happen when a team arrives at the Bangor Auditorium for its first matchup, as the Beavers found out the hard way. No. 3 Washburn (17-3 overall) was upset 67-57 Saturday evening by No. 6 Deer Isle-Stonington (12-8) in an Eastern Class D quarterfinal.
Mitch Worcester led the Beavers with 31 points, while Jordan McLaughlin chipped in 11 and Chase Chandler added 10. Hayden Ciomei paced the Mariners with 20 points, while Sam Grindle added 16 and Tim Cormier had 14.
Washburn coach Randy Norsworthy said he felt his squad played well in spurts, but was never able to fire on all cylinders.
“We kind of had that ‘deer in the headlight’ look until late in the third quarter,” he said. “We were flat-footed and didn’t defend hard. There were times where we looked good, but we never really got our engines going today.”
Norsworthy added his team lacked intensity, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
“I don’t think we defended well,” he said. “We gave up a lot of open looks in the second half. We just didn’t rebound well.”
Washburn was limited to just one possession on numerous occasions down the floor. Compounding the problem, the team’s sharp shooters were uncharacteristically off the mark for much of the night. Washburn never led in the contest.
Deer Isle-Stonington converted on a number of transition baskets early in the game as the Mariners routinely out hustled the Beavers. DI-S led 19-11 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second period, after digging itself a 28-18 hole, Washburn began to warm up, rattling off six straight points on a layup from Jordan McLaughlin, a Chase Chandler free throw and a short jumper and 3-pointer from Worcester to cut the lead to 28-24.
That four-point deficit turned out to be as close as Washburn would get. The Mariners converted on consecutive possessions to close out the half on top 32-24. That lead grew to 49-36 at the end of the third quarter.
The Beavers converted 13 of 22 free throws (59 percent), while Deer Isle-Stonington made 13 of 16 foul shots (81 percent).
“We just didn’t raise our intensity to match theirs,” coach Norsworthy said. “We also didn’t shoot well from the floor tonight.”
