By Beacon Sports Staff

With only 5 games remaining in the 2015-16 season for the women and men’s Seawolves teams, the squads are in the midst of adjusting, ironing out and fine tuning their games in preparation for the YSCC post season tournament. This year’s Elite 8-Road to Uniontown, PA is hosted by Central Maine Community College with the first round of games played February 18th and the championship games played on the following Sunday, February 21nd.

Considering how evenly matched the level and quality of play is in the YSCC, in both the women and men’s divisions, this years YSCC Elite 8 tournament should prove to be wonderful theater for basketball fans from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Currently, both squads from St. Joseph’s of Vermont hold the best record in both divisions. The Lady Knights remain undefeated in conference play (12-0), and the men are as close to perfect as can be (10-1). Their only blemish came at the hands SMCC when the Seawolves won by 15 in Rutland (85-70). The Lady Seawolves dropped a heartbreaker to the Lady Knights losing by four (56-60).

Since the last publication of the Beacon the Seawolves squads have combined for a 4-4 record with the women dropping tough loses to University of Maine-Augusta (52-65) and Dean College (65-71), while winning their last two against New Hampshire Technical College (83-58) and University of Maine-Machias (74-44).

The men Seawolves opened up the last four games winning against UMA (101-75), then fell to Dean College (82-86) and NHTI (94-105), and won in Machias against UMM (102-92).

If as Shakespeare stated in “As You Like It” that, “All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts,” then both Dean College games proved to be exciting theater for the spectator, as well as a means for the Seawolves squad’s potential to manifest itself.

The Lady Seawolves took to the court against a Dean squad that had compiled an 11-3 overall record while remaining undefeated in conference play, while being ranked in the top 20 of the National Junior College Athletic Association. The first half was one that was action packed as the Lady Bulldogs came out with all cylinders running offensively while pressing full court in an effort to unsettle the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves responded accordingly breaking the Bulldogs press more efficiently than they have all season enabling their offense to keep pace with the Bulldogs. After ten minutes of play the Lady Wovles held a one-point lead, 16-15.

The second quarter saw the SMCC squad build a seven-point halftime lead through the use of their full-court press while creating offensive opportunities, which came with a price. Both Amira Jones and Alicia Hoyt found themselves in foul trouble which would come back to haunt the Seawolves in the second half.

The second half saw Dean take a one-point lead after the third quarter (48-49) as SMCC’s inside game as stymied by foul trouble. Still The Lady Wolves stayed with Dean giving them selves a chance to steal a win against a strong team.

In the end Dean walked off the court with a seven-point hard fought win. Alicia Hoyt and Amira Jones who both fouled out in the fourth quarter lead the Lady Wolves in scoring 15 and 11 respectively, as Sammie Griffin (nine-points), Vanese Barnes and Destinie Montano (eight-points each) rounded out the high scorers for the Wolves.

The men’s game proved to be as exciting, as their potential manifested itself in a game that was back and forth until the bitter end. Both teams went at each other in the first half with neither gaining any momentum and an opportunity to build substantial leads. After 20 minutes of play SMCC held a tenuous two-point lead (40-38).

The second half saw the Seawolves build a nine-point lead by taking advantage of player mismatches and Bulldog turnovers. For a brief three to 5 minutes The Seawolves jumped all over the Bulldogs creating scoring opportunities for themselves. The energy and focus during this spurt was, simply put, beautiful to watch.  

Freshman guard Matt Jarrett jumped all over a misplayed ball by a Bulldog guard as he brought the ball up court resulting in a basket. A few plays later Jordan DeRosby stole an inbound pass firing off a three-point shot that missed the mark, which was rebounded by a fellow Sewolve resulting in another shot, that missed the mark, and another offensive rebound that presented another scoring opportunity for the Seawolves. While the Wolves didn’t score on that opportunity there was a  focus and drive that spoke volumes.

In the end the Seawolves would fall short dropping a hard fought four point loss to the Dean College Bulldogs. For a team that has struggled on and off throughout the season, it seems the Seawolves are starting to understand their potential and how to tap into it.

All in all, this years YSCC Elite 8 Tournament should prove to be one in which the top seated teams will have to play solid basketball in order to advance to the USCAA Nationals in Uniontown, PA.

The Seawolves travel to Auburn on Wednesday evening to take to the court against conference and division rival CMCC. Do you remember last year’s game at CMCC? This sports report does. On the basketball court there just might be nothing as beautiful as a player raising above defenders and firing up a three-point shot from the deepest part of a corner, hitting nothing but net, a lead, and ultimately a win on your competitors court.   

On Saturday Vermont Tech comes to South Portland to close out the YSCC season for both squads. This is will the last chance to watch your Seawolves in the Hutchinson Gym. The seniors on both squads will be honored. Your support will be appreciated. On Sunday, the Lady Wolves face Navy Prep and then it’s off to Auburn.