"We played well in spurts, but we didn't play as well as we were capable of playing," said Wiscasset Coach Matt Cook.

Unlike their J.V. counterparts, the varsity team got out to a good start early on. They were neck-and-neck with their opponents and nursed a two point lead after eight minutes.

They continued to hold off their opponents in the second quarter as well. The Bulldogs only led twice in that quarter and never by more than a basket.

Wiscasset broke the first tie when Jamie Jones stole the ball, and dished the ball off to Chris Havens for a dunk that energized the large Wiscasset crowd. They entered halftime down by one point.

Cook told his team at the half that they could win the game. "I told them they needed to pick up their defensive intensity, and work on their shot selection" he said. "This did not happen in the second half," he added.

When the Redskins fell behind again 27-31, they were unable to answer their opponents.

The Wiscasset defense, which had kept the game close for the first half, started to give up more baskets. Hall-Dale slowly pulled away throughout the quarter and led by five with eight minutes to go.

"There were a couple of break- downs on defense," said Cook.

That lead proved to be too much for the Redskins as they matched Hall-Dale but could not outscore them. Although he says Wiscasset didn't play to its full potential, Cook also gave credit to his opponents.

"Hall-Dale is a good team. They put us in situations we weren't used to," said Cook.

Chris also scored 15 points for Wisacasset followed by Matt Brewer with 9 and Kyle Pontau with 6.

Kyle Yarbrough led Hall-Dale with 15 points followed by Tom Leet and Steve Vellani with 14 and Matt Wheelock with 12 points.