PORTLAND — Tournament games can turn quickly, and this one between neighboring rivals was decisive.

Yarmouth will be heading to its first Western Maine boys’ basketball final since 1973, scoring 13 unanswered points overlapping the third and fourth quarters Thursday night for a 54-42 victory against top-ranked Greely at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Trailing 31-26, the Clippers (16-4) ran off the last six points of the third quarter and the first seven of the fourth.

Luke Pierce and Josh Britten did most of the damage.

Pierce, who finished with a team-high 18 points, started the run with a drive. Chris Knaub followed with an inside basket. Connor Ertz then beat the buzzer with a layup that gave the Clippers the lead at 32-31.

Britten opened the final quarter with a basket and two foul shots to make it 10 straight points. Pierce then scored and Knaub hit a free throw before Michael McDevitt ended Greely’s drought with two free throws.

The Rangers (17-3) never recovered and the Clippers finished the game with a 22-11 run in the fourth quarter.

“Defense and our execution on offense turned the game around,” said Pierce. “We didn’t have the greatest first half and we knew we had to turn it around, trailing by five points in the third quarter. We had some great plays and a ton of unsung heroes.”

Asked to rank this victory with his successes in soccer (a state championship last fall) and baseball (Western Maine runner-up last spring), Pierce said: “There’s nothing like playoff basketball.”

Britten, the team’s leading scorer, struggled in the first half, scoring only three points, but bounced back with nine points in the fourth quarter. He finished with 13.

The Clippers prevented the taller Rangers from getting inside on offense. With the exception of Bailey Train, who made three straight 3-pointers in the opening quarter, the Rangers didn’t have their usual success from beyond the arc.

“We started putting pressure on Greely and that turned the game around,” said Yarmouth Coach Adam Smith. “We spread the floor in the second half and took it to the rim.”

Few players in Class B take it to the rim better than the 6-foot-1 Pierce, who scored four baskets and was fouled when he didn’t score. He made 10 of 14 from the line.

“We haven’t been a good foul- shooting team this season,” said Pierce.

The Clippers made 26 of 41 from the line against Greely.

“Yarmouth played great,” said Greely Coach Ken Marks. “They took it to us.”

Marks said center Tanner Storey hurt his leg sometime in the second quarter. Storey continued to play but wasn’t able to jump effectively.

Sam Johnston recovered from a slow start to finish with 18 points for the Rangers.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:
tchard@pressherald.com