By Joseph Cyr
Sports Editor
BANGOR — Playing on the Bangor Auditorium floor in a tournament game was not something first-year girls basketball coach Ryan Deprey necessarily expected for his team this season. So when the Vikings earned a berth directly to the Auditorium, thanks in large part to a regular season win over John Bapst, Deprey was not about to let the significance of the moment go to waste.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Tied up as she tries to pull in a rebound is Caribou’s Dayna Michaud, left, as Medomak Valley’s Lindsay Ranquist tries to take the ball away.
“I told my seniors that this was great reward for them to go out on the floor of the Auditorium,” Deprey said. “Bill (Schofield) did a really good job with the program before me, so they deserve a lot of credit. I just happened to inherit a really good team.”
The No. 6 Vikings fell to No. 3 Medomak Valley of Waldoboro 52-30. Medomak Valley is now 17-2 on the season and faces No. 2 John Bapst in the semifinals Wednesday. Caribou finishes its season with a 9-10 record. Friday’s win for Medomak Valley was the first time since 1987 that it had won a playoff game in Bangor.
Jenna Selander led the Vikings offensively with 11 points, while Alexa Massey chipped in seven; Dayna Michaud, four; Jamie Martin and Katelynn Tardie, three each; and Danielle Violette, two.
For Medomak Valley, Ericka Christensen, a 6-foot, 2-inch senior, led all players with 18 points, while Alanna Vose added 10; Lindsay Ranquist, nine; Roxane Jelenfy, seven; and Kasey Benner and Mallory Conary, each had four.
The Vikings had no answer for Christensen, who used her superior size to her advantage for numerous baskets from the low post.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
Chasing after the loose ball are Caribou’s Jenna Selander, left and Medomak Valley’s Ericka Christensen during Friday night’s Eastern Class B quarterfinal game at the Bangor Auditorium. The Vikings were bounced from the tournament with a 52-30 loss.
Both squads were methodical in how they attacked the rim in the first quarter, working the ball around the perimeter, trying to get the open look. At times, both teams seemed unsure taking the open shot.
“We were a little tentative,” Deprey said. “You can’t duplicate playing here in Bangor with this playoff atmosphere. We came down early so they could sit on the floor and get a feel for it.”
Defensively, the Panthers pressed Caribou in the first quarter with minimal success.
“We learned so much playing here [in Bangor] over the past two years and that experience paid off today,” Medomak Valley coach Randy Hooper said. “I think our experience was the key. When they cut the lead to eight in the third quarter, we didn’t panic.”
Defensive rebounding and free throw shooting were also keys for the Panthers. Medomak Valley was 18-of-23 from the foul line (78 percent), while Caribou was just 3-for-5 (60 percent) from the foul line.
Focusing on shutting down Caribou’s top gun – Selander – was the primary mission for the Panthers, according to coach Hooper.
“We started straight man-to-man,” Hooper said. “In the second half, we really wanted to get her out of the flow and make it a little more difficult for her to transition.”
To accomplish that task, the Panthers switched from a man defense to a diamond-and-one defense, focusing their efforts on limiting the Viking senior. That switch in defensive styles proved difficult for the Vikings to adjust to.
“The shots that we usually were taking, nobody seemed to want to take them,” Deprey said. “Usually when someone throws a junk defense at us, it gets us back into a game, but tonight it didn’t. They did a good job.”
Things looked promising for Caribou early as the Vikings held the lead for much of the first quarter. Massey hit a 3-pointer on the Vikes first possession for a 3-2 edge and Martin made it 6-3 with a trey of her own on Caribou’s next possession. Caribou then went up 8-6 on a marvelous full-court bomb from Selander to Michaud for an open layup. Medomak Valley then went on a 7-3 run to close out the first quarter on top 13-9.
Caribou never led again, but did manage to cut the lead to eight (36-28) with six minutes left in the game when Tardie drained a 3-pointer (her first points of the game). Turnovers on their next two possessions, and Medomak Valley’s solid free throw shooting down the stretch proved too much for Caribou to overcome.
VIKINGS 9 5 9 7 —30
PANTHERS 13 12 11 16 —52
