Small and mighty
Matt Craig, center, flies through the air en route to two of his 15 points on Monday, Feb. 17 at the Augusta Civic Center. Despite Craig’s heroics, Wiscasset would succumb to top-ranked Dirigo, 66 to 56. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
CHANDLER LONGFELLOW, left, jukes a Dirigo defender on his way to the basket. The senior had 15 points in his final game in the black and red. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
DESPITE HOW IT looks, Dale Peaslee, left, is not doing the worm: he’s after a loose ball in the first half of the Monday, February 17 quarter-finals basketball game against Dirigo. Peaslee, a senior, scored 13 points in a 66-56 loss for Wiscasset. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
TRAVIS PADILLA takes a shot from the charity stripe as the Wiscasset crowd does “spirit fingers” to will the shot home. Padilla scored five points for the Wolverines Monday, Feb. 18. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
Matt Craig, center, flies through the air en route to two of his 15 points on Monday, Feb. 17 at the Augusta Civic Center. Despite Craig’s heroics, Wiscasset would succumb to top-ranked Dirigo, 66 to 56. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
CHANDLER LONGFELLOW, left, jukes a Dirigo defender on his way to the basket. The senior had 15 points in his final game in the black and red. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
DESPITE HOW IT looks, Dale Peaslee, left, is not doing the worm: he’s after a loose ball in the first half of the Monday, February 17 quarter-finals basketball game against Dirigo. Peaslee, a senior, scored 13 points in a 66-56 loss for Wiscasset. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
TRAVIS PADILLA takes a shot from the charity stripe as the Wiscasset crowd does “spirit fingers” to will the shot home. Padilla scored five points for the Wolverines Monday, Feb. 18. BEN BULKELEY/Wiscasset Newspaper
It's not just the timber that grows tall in Dixfield.
The Dirigo Cougars boys varsity basketball team happens to tower, too.
But, Wiscasset showed why its motto is “Small yet mighty.”
The eighth-seeded Wolverines were unable to overcome the top-ranked Dirigo Cougars on Monday, Feb. 17 in Augusta during the second round of the Western Maine Class C playoffs. Although the final score was 66 to 56, Dirigo was matched step-for-step by a tough Wiscasset team that was playing in front of a sea of red.
Wiscasset came out swinging: Senior Captain Chandler Longfellow buried a jumper in the opening minute to give Wiscasset an early two-point lead but neither team could capitalize on missed shots and turnovers.
The two teams were evenly matched through the first quarter: Dirigo had the size and speed while Wiscasset attacked with grit and hustle. The Wolverines' Matt Craig, Travis Padilla, Dale Peaslee and Brandon Sprague spent much of the first quarter slamming bodies with Dirigo defenders.
Although the Cougars owned a 14-13 lead after one, Dirigo couldn't bust the game open; after each basket Wiscasset was there to stem the momentum with a Craig block, Peaslee rebound or Longfellow jumper.
Soon that hustle paid-off: the two teams were tied at 21 with four minutes left in the half.
Dirigo would ride a late surge to boost its lead to 36-24 at half-time but Wiscasset made one thing clear: it wasn't going away easily, and Dirigo certainly wouldn't be having fun trying to dispatch a scrappy Wolverines squad.
Dirigo was able to pad its lead for most of the third quarter until Wiscasset clawed back within six points with three minutes left in the third quarter after Longfellow made another long three-pointer.
By the fourth quarter, however, Dirigo was able to finally able to distance itself from the Wolverines.
In the end, Wiscasset had two 15-point performances: one for Longfellow in his last appearance in the black and red and another 15 points for the junior Craig, who spent much of the night adding black and blues to himself and others with drive after drive to the basket.
Peaslee, also a senior, netted 13 points and Padilla, a junior, had five points.
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