PORTLAND — None of the shots seemed to fall for the Mountain Valley boys’ basketball team Saturday.
But just about everything was falling for Yarmouth guard Josh Britten.
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Britten scored 28 points, including nine in the second quarter as the fourth-seeded Clippers started to pull away to a 77-52 victory against the fifth-ranked Falcons in a Western Class B boys’ basketball quarterfinal at the Portland Expo.
“It was just an intense game and I knew I had to bring it,” Britten said. “It’s our defense that leads to our offense so we just got out, played good (defense) and let the offense take care of itself.”
Yarmouth (15-4) will face top-ranked Greely (17-2) in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
While the Clippers appeared to manufacture offense with ease, Mountain Valley (16-3) had trouble contending with Yarmouth’s aggressiveness.
“We were in position to get rebounds, but the physical game was tough today, and we got beat by doing our own normal stuff,” Mountain Valley Coach Rick White said. “They were much more physical and held onto rebounds when they had them.
“We did a great job trying to move the ball, (but) we just didn’t execute. They executed much better than us.”
Cam Kaubris led the Falcons with 13 points but was the focus of Yarmouth’s defense.
“Sam (Torres) did a great job of guarding Cam Kaubris,” Britten said. “It was all defense for us.”
Yarmouth scored the first four points of the second quarter to take a 20-16 lead.
Mountain Valley came back and made it 24-24 on a Kaubris basket with 3:47 left in the half. But the Clippers then closed the half on a 14-3 run.
Yarmouth took a 31-24 lead on Britten’s 3-pointer, Aiden Sullivan’s basket and a pair of free throws by Torres with less than four minutes remaining in the half.
Mountain Valley went 4 for 10 from the floor in the second quarter and converted only one free throw — by Izaak Mills in the first minute of the quarter.
“We started focusing on offense at the start of the second quarter, so it helped us in the rest of the game,” said Britten. “It was definitely a turning point.”
Mountain Valley cut the lead to 45-36 midway through the third quarter, but the Clippers finished the quarter on an 8-1 run.
Yarmouth held the Falcons to eight successful shots from the floor in the second half.
“They’re a team that has runs,” White said of the Clippers. “We just didn’t answer.”
Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:
rlenzi@pressherald.com
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