By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff
Last modified Jan. 12, 2016, at 9:57 p.m.
Hermon’s Jordan Bishop (center) watches if a three throw will sink against Orono’s Kam Hines (left) and Dennis Farnham during their basketball game in Hermon Tuesday (Ashley L. Conti | BDN)HERMON, Maine —The Orono boys basketball team had its depth tested Tuesday night.
Two starters were absent, but the Red Riots nevertheless kept pace near the top of the Class B North standings by holding off Hermon 46-39.
Coach Jason Coleman’s club went 10 deep to improve its record to 10-2.
“The biggest thing we’ve been preaching is to accept your role, and the guys off the bench have done that,” he said. “They’ve all bought into what we’re trying to accomplish, so missing a couple of starters hurts, but it’s not going to kill us.”
Junior guard Nate DeSisto led Orono offensively with 17 points and seven rebounds, and senior forward Kam Hines worked inside against the smaller Hermon front line to score 15 points and grab six rebounds.
“I noticed they didn’t have a lot of big players, so we just kept going down low to attack their post,” said Hines.
Freshman forward Connor Robertson, who got increased minutes because of the absences of Keenan Collett (ankle) and Imao Woldring (illness), was an efficient 5-of-7 from the field while scoring 10 points, and junior forward Jackson Coutts dished out a game-high six assists.
“A couple of guys stepped up who don’t normally play a lot of minutes and did their job, and we stayed in the present, we did what we had to do and focused on the next play, and it all worked out,” said DeSisto.
Orono trailed just once, at 12-11 late in the first quarter after Hermon sophomore Keenan Marseille scored off a Red Riots’ turnover.
A follow-up basket by DeSisto restored Orono to a 13-12 lead by the end of the period, igniting a 9-0 run that also included two inside baskets by Robertson before DeSisto nailed one of his three 3-pointers of the night to extend the Red Riots’ lead to 20-12.
Hermon hung within 23-18 by intermission but struggled to get good looks at the basket throughout the contest against Orono’s 1-2-2 and 1-3-1 defenses.
“It stalled them out because we have length and we got to all their shooters,” said DeSisto. “They have great shooters, so in the 1-3-1, we were able to play all of them.”
While Orono shot 50 percent (17 of 34) from the field, Hermon made just 16 of 57 shots (28 percent) despite a 30-22 rebounding advantage — mostly on the offensive backboards.
“If you look over the last few games we’ve played, the kids are playing hard, they’re working hard, but the ball’s not going in the basket right now and they’re frustrated,” said Hermon coach Mark Reed, whose roster includes four freshmen and four sophomores.
“It’s a young team and they want to see the ball go in, but you’ve got to make shots and you’ve got to capitalize on your opportunities. I can’t remember the last time our team’s offensive rebounds doubled our team’s defensive rebounds and we lose by [seven]. Those stats don’t line up,” he said.
Hermon (6-5) did get within 33-29 with nine unanswered points — including five by Marseille — around the end of the third quarter.
But Coutts made a free throw after a drive to the basket, and back-to-back steals by Jake Koffman and DeSisto produced a follow-up basket by DeSisto and a layup by Robertson.
DeSisto then took a backdoor bounce pass from Coutts in for a layup, and Orono’s lead was back to 40-29 with 3:40 left in the game.
“We know they can get going at any time because they have shooters,” said DeSisto. “We just had to contain that run to the best of our ability.”
Marseille paced Hermon with 15 points and five rebounds for Hermon, while freshman forward Garrett Trask had seven points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Tyler Beaton had six points and six boards.
