AUGUSTA — Mt. Abram gained a measure of revenge Saturday night against Monmouth Academy. In the process, the Roadrunners earned their first trip to a boys basketball state championship game.
After losing to the Mustangs in last year’s Class C South final and again in the regular season this winter, the Roadrunners captured the regional title with a 52-43 victory at the Augusta Civic Center. Mt. Abram will face Mattanawcook in the state final at 8:45 p.m. Saturday at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
“Yeah, we lost to them last year, and that set a flame under our butts,” Killian Pillsbury said. So we played hard, and it was awesome. Great team, though.”
Mt. Abram coach Jeff Pillsbury said the top-seeded Roadrunners (20-1) answered challenges throughout the week.
“Well, one of my good friends says, ‘You know, players can make you look awfully good,’ and I try to stay out of the way, and it feels great, but the boys, they deserve all the credit. They competed in battle, and this was a tough tournament. Every night was a battle, it was a battle, and they persevered.”
Bryce Wilcox’s 23 points and Pillsbury’s 20 paced Mt. Abram.
Bingham Abbott led second-seeded Monmouth (16-5) with 22 points. Levi Laverdiere finished with 14.
Despite the loss, Monmouth coach Wade Morrill told his players he was pleased with the way they turned their season around after a 5-4 start.
“We were at 5-4, nine games into the year, and we were just trying to keep our head above water, just trying to grind day by day and get better every day and make sure we got to the playoffs,” Morrill said. “And, you know, to get all the way to this game … by winning 11 in a row, I just told them I was really proud of them.”
After the teams traded 3s to open the game, the Roadrunners went on a 9-1 run and led 13-4 late in the first quarter. Monmouth called a timeout, then closed out the quarter with six straight points, capped by a Laverdiere three-point play.
Pilsbury heated up for Mt. Abram in the second quarter. He had two 3s early on and finished the quarter with 10 points.
“I mean, my teammates were just giving me the ball and I was just getting open looks,” Pillsbury said. “So, I was just shooting … helping my team out. So that always helps.”
The Mustangs worked the ball inside to Abbott, who had eight points in the second quarter. Monmouth trailed 25-22 at halftime.
Mt. Abram tried its best to slow down Abbott and Laverdiere.
“We didn’t do a very good job, and I think that speaks to his talent, but we didn’t know if we could contain Laverdiere,” Mt. Abram coach Jeff Pillsbury said. “Chase (Ross) did an awesome job defending him, and we had help. We were trying to slow down Abbott, but he’s a good player. He had some tough shots. We were trying to keep him off the boards, but he had quite a game.”
Abbott gave the Mustangs their first lead early in the third quarter with two straight baskets. The teams then traded the lead a handful of times. Morrill said he thought the Mustangs did a good job of limiting points from Mt. Abram’s bigs, but sophomore forward Brennan Mitchell scored four points late in the third, and a Pillsbury bucket gave the Roadrunners a 39-35 lead heading into the final quarter.
That was as close as the Mustangs would get.
“Yeah, we just spent a lot of energy on defense,” said Morrill. “And we had some good looks, and they just didn’t go down.”
Wilcox was 8 for 11 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
“It’s always big to hit those foul shots at the end of the game,” Wilcox said. “But I had a smile on my face the whole time. And, you know, you kind of knew it was over, but it’s not over until it’s over.”
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