FARMINGTON – Mt. Blue High School boys basketball (1-11) entered its home game with Leavitt High School (5-7) searching for its first victory on the season. The Hornets were seeking a win to join the playoff picture in the South.
The Cougars didn’t give the Hornets a chance to find their footing. Using an up-tempo attack, Mt. Blue went after Leavitt early with ball screens and dribble drives. After disrupting the Hornets hive down low, the Cougars found ball movement off of their drives to open shooters behind the arc. Vocal, constant communication for Mt. Blue alerted the squad of Leavitt’s defensive formation and what play the Cougars would attack with.
Junior Garrett Reynolds and Senior James Anderson battered Leavitt’s post after burning their Hornet defenders around screens. Reynolds finished with a game high 32 points after taking up residency at the charity stripe, notching 12 of his 15 free throws. Anderson, 16 points, electrified an already exuberant crowd with his aerial attack around the rim.
Head Coach Charlie Castonguay kept the Cougars focused despite their rampant lead.
“Take it one quarter at a time,” Coach Castonguay relayed to his squad. “We don’t want to give them anything easy.”
Mt. Blue cruised out to a 19-12 lead in the first quarter, blossoming into 30-19 at the half. The Cougars maintained their coach’s mindset and swatted Hornet runs with unshakable defense and pressure. Senior Marshall Doyon kept Leavitt off balance with badgering ball defense. Doyon and teammate Reynolds forced the Hornet point of attack to often be disjointed and inaccurate when passing into the post.
The Hornets’ height advantage was negated by Mt. Blue’s reluctance to relinquish rebounds. Junior Caleb Talbot, in particular, was diligent in his denial of anything that sprang from the hoop.
After a 50-27 third quarter lead, Castonguay elected to slow the Cougar up-tempo offense to eat the clock and close out the game. The Hornets made a last quarter comeback attempt but found themselves out of time. The Cougar home-crowd gave their team a rousing standing ovation to close out their first victory of the season. Mt. Blue 70, Leavitt 51.
The Cougar boys basketball team will host Gardiner High School for their next game on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
