The Beacon Sports Staff

Two weeks ago, as the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) season was finishing up and playoff seeds were still being resolved, the best small college basketball rivalry in Maine finished off their regular season two-game series at SMCC.

The Lady SeaWolves entered the game looking to win at home and even the series at one a piece. For the first 16 minutes and a handful of seconds in the first half, it looked like the Wolves would walk away with a regular season split. In fact, into the fourth quarter i4t looked like the Wolves could level the season series.

The game opened with both teams matching the opponent’s offensive output. For the first seven-minutes the Wolves and Mustangs traded baskets never pulling more than 2pts away each other.

Above: Abbie Ramirez layup is blocked in first half action against the Mustangs.

With a little more than two-minutes remaining in the first half an Abbie Rairez layup would mark the beginning of an SMCC offensive output that would give the Wolves an nine-point lead after 10 minutes of play.

Adrienne White would follow Ramirez’s layup with a three-point bomb that hit nothing but bottom of net. Ramirez would finish off the quarter by hitting two from the foul line and draining a jump shot with six seconds left.

Far right: Adrienne White and the Lady SeaWolves took on unity college in the first round of the YSCC championship tournament. The Wolves would secure an 85-31 victory sending them to play in Saturdays semi-final contest at CMCC in Auburn, ME.

Close right: Anderson Kavutse and the SeaWolve men’s squad took on the University of Maine-Augusta Sunday in first round action of the YSCC post season playoffs. The SeaWolves would win 84-60. Look for full coverage of the YSCC Championships in the next Beacon. All playoff photos courtesy of Cassie-Briana Marceau

The Wolves would continue to build their lead throughout much of the second quarter with Prescila Berdeja jump shot and Emiuly Hogan’s two foul shots. The Mustang;s would only beable to score four points in the first five minutes of the second quarter, as the Wolves would grab a 17pt lead on Berdeja’s three-point shot.

With 4:41 left before intermission the Wolves had built a 17pt lead. The Wolves would not beable to find the bottom of the net for the rest of the quarter as the Mustangs cut the lead to four 33-29 halftime).

As Ramirez sat on the bench because of fouls, the SeaWolves offense never was able to answer the Mustang offensive surge.

The Woloves would grab a seven-point lead (36-29) little less than two-minutes of play in the third on a Breja’s three-point jumper. The Wolves would continue to hold a high single digit lead in the first five minutes of the game, even building the lead to 11pts with an Amanda Brett three-point play (44-33).

Again, Central Maine countered- cutting the lead to two (44-42) with a little over a minute in the quarter. Hogan’s second three-point jumper of the quarter would push SMCC’s lead back to five with 10 minutes of play remaining.

SMCC would grab the first four points of the quarter building a nine-point lead (51-42) and again CMCC would go on an offensive scoring spree that the SeaWolves could not answer. With 4:22 CM’s Kristen Huntress would level the score at 51 apiece on a three-point shot. The Mustangs would build an eight-point lead until SMCC would score on two Brett free throws (59-53) with :23 remaining.

While the Lady Wolves dropped the regular season games to Central Maine, there’s are positives from the games that could swing a meeting in the YSCC playoffs SMCC’s way. Such is the ebb and flow of small college basketball in Maine.

Thirty minutes after the final buzzer of the women’s game the men tipped off with the Wolves looking to take this one at home sweeping the season series. The Mustang’s would have their work cut out for them in order to even the regular season series.

The SeaWolves jumped all over CMCC grabbing an eight-point lead before the Mustangs found the bottom of the net. Gregory Trinidad would start the Wolves scoring with a two-point jumper. After which Anderson Kavutse would go on a. mini scoring spree hitting the net for the SeaWolves next ten points.

Jacobee Burpee followed Kavutse’s burst by dropping a three-point bomb and giving the SeaWolves a quick 10point lead (15-5).

As first half unfolded, SMCC continued to sustain and pad their ten point lead with timely three-point shots and pressure defense. When the half time buzzer sounded the SeaWolves had built a 15point lead over the Mustangs.

Kavutse would lead all scorers with 13pts on 4-7 field goal shooting while hitting all five of his free throws.

Above: Atencio Martin making a statement dunk against Central Maine. Martin finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the 21pt victory. below that Gregory Trinidad fires off a three-point shot in front of the Mustang’s bench. Trinidad finished with 11 points; and below, Atencio Martin fires off a first half three-pointer in front of the home crowd.

Atencio Martin would add seven points as Gregory Trinidad and Jacobee both hit the nets for six apiece. Cloutier would be limited to two points in the first half. The second half would prove to be different for Cloutier. 

The senior captain would carry the load in the second half scoring 16 of his total 18 points in the second twenty minutes of play. Senior captain Atencio Martin contributed a strong half of basketball with a near double-double by scoring 8 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

After scoring on the first trip down the floor, the SeaWolves never surrendered their lead. The SeaWolves capitalized on 22 points off of turnovers, while going 10-10 from the free throw line. Sophomore Jacobee Burpee ended with eight points, six rebounds, and seven assists.

The Wolves improved to 14-1 in conference play and needed to win on the road against Vermont Tech to win the regular season title and take the first seed in the YSCC Championships. See the Wolves Regular Season Comes to an End for the write up.