The seventh-seeded Mount View boys basketball team punched its ticket to the Class C state title game on Saturday night, ousting the No. 1 Calais Blue Devils 72-38 at the Cross Center in Bangor.
The upstart Mustangs from Thorndike became the lowest seed across all five classes and both genders to qualify for the state finals this February, with No. 4 Orono in Class B boys being the next-lowest. The Mustangs were equally as dominant as they were surprising, winning their four postseason games by a combined 108 points.
Mount View will play South champion Monmouth Academy next Saturday at 8:45 p.m. at the Augusta Civic Center.
The high-energy Mustangs kicked down the door early against Calais, using 10 points from senior guard Noah Hurd to take a 20-6 lead after one quarter. In the second, Calais appeared to have solved the Mustangs’ attack, trailing 35-22 right before halftime, but a fadeaway 3-pointer from Hurd to beat the buzzer sent the Mount View faithful into hysterics and the Mustangs headed to the locker room riding high.
When play resumed, Hurd and company picked up where they left off, quickly draining two more threes and gradually ballooning their lead to 30. The Mustangs finished with 10 made threes on Saturday night, six of which came from Hurd, who tallied 30 points, three assists and two steals.
Hurd’s backcourt partner Wyatt Evensen contributed 10 points, three assists and three steals, and sophomores Stuart Knowlton and Wyatt Bennett combined for 17 additional points.
