Jamboree in the Palace

The Penguin Palace proved to be a wonderful place for both of the Mavericks Jamboree squads as both teams were able to win the district title last Saturday, November 18, in Whitewater.

The night ended with a thriller in a relatively low scoring game as the Mavericks Jamboree boys were able to hold off the Lustre Lions 15-14 to win the Boys District Title.

"We should have made our fast break layups and we would've whooped their butts," Blaine Downing said. "But the key to our victory was defense."

Downing, a fifth grader from Saco, led the Mavericks with five points, including the team's game-winning free throw in the final seconds of the game. Peyton Smith had four points, Coy Bowman had three points and Kade Strommen had three points.

"I am pretty excited and pumped," Downing said about the win.

After holding the Lustre Lions to four points in the first half and scoring nine of their own, things were looking up for the Mavs, who scored several of their points off of turnovers.

The Lions buckled down and controlled the ball much better in the second half while nearly completely stifling North Country's offense in the second half. North Country's offense scored six points in the second half, while Lustre put up 10, six of which came at the free throw line.

Bowman, another fifth grader from Hinsdale, was asked if he saw the team winning a title at the end of the season.

"I hoped so," Bowman said. "At the beginning of the season, I was hoping that we would get to this spot and we got here. It took defense, practice, offense and free throws."

Bowman, who scored the team's last free throw, admitted that his hands were shaking. He hit the first free throw and missed the second.

"I just heavily breathed in and out," Downing said.

In his second year as a Maverick, Downing admitted he was nervous about the merge of Saco, Whitewater and Hinsdale.

"Last year I was kind of nervous," Downing said. "I was nervous that I would be the kid that sucked at basketball. I feel a lot better than I was. I practiced a lot over the summer and got better."

He went on to say he practices an hour a day.

In the girl's championship game, the North Country Mavericks were able to skate past the Dodson Coyotes 33-12.

The Mavericks were led by Paige Wasson, Teagan Erickson and Shelbi LaBrie, who combined for 29 of the team's points. Wasson had 10, LaBrie had 10, Erickson had nine. Ava Hanley and Kendall Scheffelmear had two points each.

"We played good defense," Erickson said. "We stayed low because we knew that Taya (Kataya Flansburg of Dodson) likes to drive, so as long as we stayed low on defense we could stay with her."

Though one of the youngest on the team, LaBrie was aggressive in her time during the second half, driving to the paint and scoring eight points, two of which came from her only free throws that evening.

"They dribbled with the ball high," LaBrie said.

Wasson and Erickson have won the District title twice in two possible times in their jamboree careers.

"It feels pretty good," Wasson said, noting that she let out a 'long yeah!' after the buzzer.