New Hampton Tops Bridgton Academy 86-70

New Hampton outlasted Bridgton 86-70 at New Hampton on Wednesday night. New Hampton jumped on top early building a 17-2 lead before the visiting Wolverines responded to narrow the gap 36-28 at halftime. The home team extended their lead again in the second half, with BA closing to ten but never closer during the game’s final minutes. Kareem Canty (New York, NY) led the Bridgton attack with 20 points. BA Coach Lesure credited New Hampton’s team play with the victory. “They have improved significantly during the last month, while our team is struggling right now to regain our swagger. Losing in any competitive conference compounds things a bit, and our league is no different. We’ve been a bit snake-bitten with injuries and illness, but those are usually the kinds of feelings that go a long with losing. Somehow we need to create a break for ourselves that sparks some positive momentum,” said Lesure.

Up next the team will travel to MCI to play on Wednesday at 6:00 PM.

New Hampton makeup game today

Bridgton Academy will take to the road today to square off with New Hampton in a game rescheduled from last Wednesday. Game time is 6:00 PM.

BA Drops 79-49 Contest in URI Showcase

Bad weather and difficult playing conditions were evident this weekend at the NPSI Event in Rhode Island. On Friday a talented Princeton Day Prep team coached by ex-Patterson and prep legend Chris Cheney took a part the Wolverines who seemed to take the game a bit lightly. The Wolverines led early in the contest but relinquished the lead and never made a serious game of it. All BA players saw the floor for equal minutes in the contest.

Coach Lesure discussed the unique rotations afterwords saying, “we have many players making college decisions and this was an opportunity to let them showcase their skills in front of the college coaches and talent evaluators on hand as the spring approaches”.

Wolverines Drop OT Thriller to Northfield Mount Hermon 72-66

Down by 16 at the half 36-20, Bridgton Academy mounted a spirited comeback tying the game with five seconds remaining and forcing the overtime with a Corey Spence (Baltimore, MD) driving layup. Kareem Canty (New York, NY) led all scorers with 28 points and Donnie Hale (New Albany, IN) chipped in 17 points with 11 rebounds. Joe Sharkey led the NMH squad with 18 points.

Coach Lesure was complimentary of the victors afterwords saying “they played well throughout the game, shot it especially well, and hung in there in overtime to beat us, when it looked like things were turning our way. I also think we can be pretty good if we play as hard as we did in the second half.”

BA plays Monday evening at New Hampton in a make up game from last weeks’ weather postponement. New Hampton beat Bridgton in North Bridgton for the first time in eight years earlier this January and seeks to sweep the series for the first time in Lesure’s tenure. “I told our players flat out, championships and all, this game is the biggest of my career, and I’m confident they’ve got my back,” said Lesure.

NOTRE DAME PREP 86 BRIDGTON ACADEMY 75

Notre Dame Prep broke open a very tight game with five minutes remaining in the contest to capture the 2^nd Bridgton Winter Classic tournament. In the first half, it was a similar story as the visiting Crusaders edged out to a 38-30 lead at the half with a couple key buckets in the final minute. The Wolverines stayed close throughout most of the second half reducing the deficit to one on several occasions but some costly errors with the ball and hot shooting by Notre Dame Prep allowed the margin to widen in the final minutes. Todd Mayo led Notre Dame with a game high 22 points and virtually willed his team to victory. Donnie Hale (New Albany, IN) was again solid for the Wolverines on both ends and paced the scoring attack with twenty and he had plenty of help from guards Corey Spence (Baltimore, MD), Kareem Canty (New York, NY), and the front court tandem of Ryan Martin (London, England) and Daniel Franca (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

Coach Lesure pointed out the plays that Notre Dame made to close the game out as the difference on the afternoon. “ They finished some plays extremely well, and showed their mettle down the stretch. I was comfortable with the position we put ourselves in but there is no question we have to learn from this and close games with better execution. I really don’t fault our effort too much. We can play harder, but our team concept is better right now than it has been in a while. Hats off to Athletic Director Joe Sawicki for the development of the Winter Classic, and to the many people behind the scenes for helping to showcase Bridgton Academy and the Lakes Region to the participating teams and spectators. And congratulations to ND Prep for winning their second consecutive Winter Classic tournament," said Lesure.

In the consolation game, St. Thomas More broke open a tight game at halftime to defeat NEPSAC rival MCI.

BRIDGTON ACADEMY 63 ST. THOMAS MORE 60

Dust off the clichés. “What a difference a day makes" or ”wins and losses come in different sizes." The Wolverines defeated one of the very best teams in New England with an all around team effort and significantly improved execution on Friday night to advance to the championship game of the Winter Classic played in honor of Martha Flint '52. The two teams battled evenly throughout the first half and St. Thomas More held a slim 29-28 advantage at the break.

It was close throughout the second half with neither team able to build a lead bigger than five points. Donnie Hale (New Albany, IN) played his best game of the year in leading the BA effort, finishing with a game high 20 points on a variety of inside and outside moves. He was not alone in putting up his best effort. Kareem Canty (New York, NY) (13 pts) and Corey Spence (Baltimore, MD) led a much more balanced attack in the backcourt with heady decision making throughout critical stretches of the game. The "Brazilian Beast" Daniel Franca (Sao Paulo, Brazil) was strong inside on both ends of the court proving that you do not need to score to play a vital role in a basketball game.

Coach Lesure was elated with the outcome in his comments afterwards. "First off, all the credit goes to the guys in our locker room. They know what went into this one. Our focus is always on getting better, but that is not an even or always pretty path. We certainly played better tonight,” Lesure said.

The Wolverines will face Notre Dame Prep in the championship game on Saturday afternoon at 2pm with St. Thomas More facing off against MCI at noon.

BRIDGTON SUFFERS 73-38 LOSS TO BREWSTER

This one wasn’t in the cards from the start. A sluggish beginning to the game for both teams opened the floodgates for the top-ranked visitors from New Hampshire who took full advantage of the Wolverine problems to coast to an easy victory in North Bridgton. Several timeouts and multiple substitutions had little effect as Brewster rolled to a 31-8 halftime lead. The eight points in a half is the wrong kind of record to be setting against a superior opponent. Bridgton held Brewster at bay for much of the second half before letting the game get completely out of hand. Coach Lesure came away impressed with the top ranked Bobcats and was matter of fact after the game in his comments. “Give all the credit to Brewster. They are playing very well. We struggled mightily on offense to do anything. I feel for our players who have not been through this sort of humbling defeat before, but on the other hand, the only thing that really matters is how each of us responds," said Lesure.

Later this week BA hosts the Winter Classic and takes on St. Thomas More Friday night at 8pm. MCI plays Notre Dame Prep at 6pm in the opening game.