Lake Region 41

Yarmouth 64

The Lake Region boys basketball team went into the Portland Expo on Saturday with the hopes of joining the Laker girls team at the Cumberland County Civic Center in the Class B semifinals.

Unfortunately for the seventh-seeded Lakers, the No. 2 Yarmouth Clippers never got the memo, and eliminated the Lakers in a Class B quarterfinal game 64-41.

The Lakers, who were coming into the game off a win over No. 10 Fryeburg Academy in the prelims, had trouble getting shots to fall all game, and trailed for a great majority of the contest.

The Lakers’ Matthew Langadas, who finished with eight points in the game, got Lake Region on the board with 6:35 left in the first, tying the game at 2-2 on a putback off an offensive rebound. But then, Yarmouth reeled off five straight points to take the lead for good.

Yarmouth kept up the defensive pressure, and it seemed to get to the Lakers, who were having problems inbounding the ball. The Lakers did cut the lead to three on a nice inbounds play when senior forward Jacob Moore found junior guard Phil Leighton (who led the Lakers with 18 points) wide open near the hoop with 4:00 left in the quarter. Leighton hit the layup making the score 7-4.

But the Clippers’ defensive pressure clamped down again, allowing Yarmouth to run off nine straight points, making it 16-4 before Moore scored off an offensive rebound to make it 16-6.

The quarter ended with the score 17-7 in favor of Yarmouth, and the Clippers began to extend their lead in the second quarter. Yarmouth jumped out to a 24-9 advantage before the Lakers’ Matthew Langadas hit a reverse layup to cut the lead to 24-11.

The two teams went into halftime with the Clippers on top 32-18. As the third quarter, the Lakers began to show signs of life.

With 6:15 left to go in the quarter, Langadas hit a runner to cut the Clipper lead to 35-22. Then, Leighton hit a shot to cut the lead to answer a Yarmouth hoop, making the score 37-24. The Lakers cut the lead to 11 with 4:45 left on a Leighton runner and then after a defensive stop, the Lakers cut the lead to nine on a long jumper.

The Lakers drew even closer, bringing their fans to their feet, when Leighton sunk two shots from the free throw line. Just like that, the Clipper lead was down to 37-30.

But that was as close as the Lakers got. By the end of the third quarter, the Clippers had extended their lead back to double digits, 45-34. And the Clippers pulled away in the fourth, outscoring the Lakers 19-7 to seal the win.