AUGUSTA — Richmond guard Mike Christie gave it the same old, same old, when asked how it felt following his team’s 55-52 Western Class D championship victory Saturday against Vinalhaven.
“Four times in a row,” Christie said. “It was just like it was meant to be.”
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This may have been the toughest of the four.
The third-seeded Bobcats (16-3) led 54-52 when Bobby Beckman of fifth-ranked Vinalhaven (11-7) launched a desperation 3-pointer with three seconds left. The ball bounced high off the rim, then hit the rim twice more been bouncing off.
Kyle O’Brien of Richmond was fouled with two-tenths of a second left and made one of two free throws.
“I thought Bobby Beckman was going to hit it,” O’Brien said. “I was under the hoop and I saw it bounce twice. I said ‘oh no, oh no.’ “
Richmond will meet Central Aroostook (21-0) in the state final next Saturday at Bangor.
O’Brien finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and was named the tournament’s outstanding player.
Christie finished with 16 points, going 9 of 12 from the foul line.
Free throws made a difference. The Bobcats got into the bonus at the beginning of the fourth quarter and made 10 of 13 in the period. They finished 19 of 24 from the line; the Vikings shot 4 of 12.
Vinalhaven took the lead late in the first quarter and didn’t trail until Wade Tuttle of Richmond hit a pair of foul shots to make it 42-40 with 5:50 left.
Brian Stanley of Vinalhaven made four 3s in the first quarter and two in the second to stake the Vikings to a 29-26 halftime lead. Stanley finished with seven 3-pointers to tie a Class D tournament single-game record.
In the second half, Richmond Coach Phil Houdlette put a taller defender on Stanley, and 6-foot-3 Tom Carter held him to one shot attempt until getting into foul trouble.
“I was trying to contest all his shots,” Carter said. “Mike (Christie) played good D but he’s a little smaller. It’s kind of hard to shoot over a 6-3 frame.”
Steven Osgood kept the Vikings close in the second half, scoring 12 of his 21 points. He scored six points in the last four minutes after Vinalhaven trailed 48-40. He connected on a baseline drive with 24 seconds left to draw the Vikings within 53-51 on a play that fouled Carter out.
As they did throughout the tournament, the Vikings pressed the whole game. They forced 22 turnovers but committed 22 of their own.
“The whole game plan was to try to wear them down a little bit,” Vinalhaven Coach Matt Slivinsky said. “They don’t have much (of a bench). And to keep the pressure on Christie and Carter especially, just to wear them down and get them tired.”
Houdlette subbed only twice, both times inserting sophomore Randy Moody, first for O’Brien late in the first half because he had two fouls, then for Carter after he fouled out. Christie played the entire game and often broke Vinalhaven’s press by dribbling through three or four defenders.
“Down at Richmond, we had pretty good success with him being able to do that,” Houdlette said.
Carter was held to seven points, but Richmond got help from Tuttle and sophomore Ben Carver. Tuttle finished with seven points and made 5 of 6 free throws in the fourth quarter, while Carver scored all eight of his points early in the game, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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