Beaver girls cruise,
earn third consecutive EM title
By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BANGOR — It’s been the formula for success since the team began winning titles in 2011, and it worked just fine again in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class D title game against the Schenck Wolverines of East Millinocket.
FIGHTING FOR POSSESSION OF THE BALL is Washburn senior Olivia Doody during Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class D championship game against Schenck, played at the Bangor Auditorium. The Beavers won, 71-39, and will take on the Western Maine champion Richmond Bobcats for the third consecutive year in the March 2 state finals, to take place in Bangor.
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RISING HIGH 
for a jump shot over Schenck’s Olivia Lewis is Washburn sophomore Joan Overman, who scored 16 points in her team’s 71-39 victory in the EM Class D title game Saturday.
Pressure defense leads to turnovers, which leads to easy baskets in transition.
After Olivia Lewis got her Schenck team within six points of the Beavers (16-10) on a hoop with 1:56 to play in the first quarter, Washburn got rolling.
The two-time defending state champions scored the game’s next 18 points over a span of just two minutes and 23 seconds to move on top by 24 points, and the Wolverines never recovered as Washburn went on to a 71-39 victory.
“They are fast and we’re not used to that,” said Schenck senior Kristin Thompson. “We play a lot of bigger teams. We thought we could keep up, and we did for a little while, but there is nothing that can prepare you for the quickness they have.”
The regional title was the school’s third in a row. The Beavers will next meet up against Richmond, who they defeated in the previous two state championship games, on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.
The Beavers began their game-changing flurry with a short jumper by sophomore guard Joan Overman with one minute left in the opening quarter. Overman converted a pass from Carmen Bragg for a transition layup 16 seconds later, while two Mackenzie Worcester free throws and a Bragg layup off a Worcester pass following a Schenck turnover in the backcourt closed out the first-period scoring with Washburn up by 14.
“We were a little bit nervous the first few minutes of the game, and it may have showed, but then we got into the flow,” Worcester said.
“We really worked on getting our transition game going during practices this week,” said Olivia Doody, Washburn’s lone senior. “It’s really just getting the ball down the court as fast as we can by passing it quickly, and we have a solid six [players] and that makes it tough for an opponent.”
The undefeated and top-seeded Beavers weren’t through. To begin the second quarter, Bragg drained a three, Overman hit two foul shots, Nicole Olson scored from inside and Overman tallied off a Carsyn Koch pass.
When Thompson hit one of two free throws with 5:46 to play in the second to break the scoring drought, the score was 34-11 and the rout was on. The Beavers led 45-18 at halftime, with Koch scoring her team’s final seven points and Schenck being held to one field goal — a Thompson three-pointer — during the entire second quarter.
The lead ballooned to 59-28 after three before Washburn emptied its bench for much of the final eight minutes of play.
Overman scored 16 points and hauled in eight rebounds, to go along with three assists and three steals. Bragg led the offense with 20 points, including four three-point field goals, and she also had three steals.
Worcester had 14 points, going eight for eight from the foul line, and also had seven assists and six steals, both team-highs. Koch had seven points and nine rebounds along with three steals. Doody netted six points.
For the Wolverines, Thompson had 16 points in the final game of her career. She also had a game-high 11 rebounds. Katie Stanley had six points as did Morgan Thompson, who had eight boards, two blocked shots and three steals.
First-year Washburn coach Diana Trams said her initial goal was for the team to enjoy any success that they had, and she feels that was accomplished.
“I’m very competitive and love to win, but I wanted the girls to have fun at the same time and hopefully they did … I’m really proud of them,” Trams said.
In the 87-42 semifinal victory over Machias Thursday, Worcester scored 32 points as the Beavers fell just one three-pointer and two points short of tying EM Class D tourney team records in those categories.
Bragg added 17 points, Koch had 10 and Olson nine to round out another balanced attack.
Becca Lee scored 12 points and Tate Dolley 11 for the Bulldogs, who trailed by 19 after the first quarter and by 33 at intermission.
“The beginning of the season was a little shaky,” Worcester said. “We didn’t look like the team we were last year, but we started (working) our transition game and once Joan came back from her injury [in mid-January], we started clicking really well and got it by the end of the season.”
