enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Mick DiStasio, who won the Vinall Trophy as the MVP of the Western Class A boys’ basketball tournament, swings the net Saturday night after Cheverus earned its berth against Bangor in the state final by defeating Thornton Academy, 40-31.

Defense wins championships.

Boy, does it ever.

Held to fewer than 40 points by Thornton Academy in their regular season-meeting, Cheverus returned the favor less than a month later to win the Western Class A boys’ basketball title 40-31 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The top-ranked Stags (18-3) will meet Bangor (21-0) in the state final at 9 p.m. next Saturday at the Civic Center. It’s a rematch of the 2003 final won by Bangor, 48-43.

“They’re 21-0,” said Cheverus Coach Bob Brown. “Edward Little has been the only team that has played with them.”

Cheverus’ zone defense gave a little inside but was air tight on the perimeter.

“Cheverus played excellent defense,” said Thornton Coach Bob Davies. “They talk a lot on defense.”

No past regional results were immediately available, but as a point of reference, the last Class A state final with such a low score came in 1950, when Portland beat Millinocket, 28-23.

Second-seeded Thornton (18-3) looked to get the ball inside to Kory Martin, who responded with 13 points, but the Golden Trojans needed a complement and couldn’t find one.

“The last time we played them, we didn’t play as a team,” said Mick DiStasio, who won the George Vinall Trophy as tournament MVP.

That was a 51-39 win by Thornton at Cheverus on Jan. 29 that gave the Stags their first loss.

“We played as a team this time. This was huge,” said DiStasio. “We didn’t want our season to end, and hopefully we can carry the momentum through the state game.”

The Trojans pulled within 33-31 on a Martin basket with 2:09 remaining but didn’t score again. Cheverus got its last seven points from the foul line.

“We had some good looks,” said Davies. “They just didn’t go down. We rebounded well on the offensive end but our defensive rebounding hurt us. Cheverus moved the ball very well. It’s sometimes difficult to relocate your man when a team moves the ball as well as they do.”

Indiana Faithfull of Cheverus held James Morse, one of Thornton’s top scorers, to six points, all in the second half. Faithfull also deflected passes and scored on a couple of key drives in the third quarter.

Will White, who missed the first half of the season with an injury, was another standout for the Stags.

“Wil White (who had five points in the first quarter) scored major points for us,” said Brown. “He was outstanding on defense, too.”

When point guard Doug Alston turned his ankle late in the game, White ran the offense. Alston returned with 1:55 left.

Cheverus pressed Thornton in the first meeting, but not this time. The Stags did pick up Thornton aggressively once they crossed midcourt.

“We pressed once this game, but when their point guard, Jeff Winnie, went by us, that was it,” said Brown.

“We couldn’t get into our offense in the first game. We did this time and we didn’t turn the ball over. We played together as a team. On defense we made sure we had a hand above the ball at all times.”

Thornton never led in the second half but cut it to 29-28 at the start of the fourth quarter, as close as it got.

Thornton was bidding to win the school’s first regional title.

Ian Barwise hit two 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 12 points for the Stags, who won their 12th Western Maine title.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:
tchard@pressherald.com