By Mike Sandrolini
For the Bugle
The situation was looking bleak for Maine South in its regional semifinal contest with Zion-Benton Tuesday night.
The sixth-seeded Hawks didn’t record a field goal in the second quarter and fell behind 30-14 at intermission to the 10th-seeded Zee-Bees. In the third quarter, Zion-Benton’s lead swelled to 22 points (36-14) following a 6-0 run to begin the quarter and led 38-19 shortly thereafter.
However, the Hawks put together an 11-0 run to cut Zion-Benton’s lead to 38-30 by the end of the quarter, took their first lead of the contest, 43-40, on senior Jon Arenas’ three-point play with 2:02 left, and won it, 44-43 after 6-11 senior Brad Perry sank the second of two free throws with 3.8 seconds to go.
The Hawks’ dramatic victory puts them in the title game of their own regional Friday night versus No. 3 seed and defending Class 4A state champion Stevenson (23-6), which crushed Highland Park, 50-27, inTuesday’s first game.
Arenas led the Hawks (21-9), who’ve won seven of their last eight games, with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Perry added 11 and sophomore Tommy Gardiner 10. Senior Tommy Digan chipped in with nine.