Several Class D high school basketball teams played their preliminary rounds last week. The No. 6 East Grand girls were the only team to advance to the Eastern Maine Tournament as they narrowly defeated No. 11 Stearns of Millinocket, 48-42, last Tuesday night in Danforth.
Allie McEwen posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Chelsea Winiarski netted 12 points.
For Stearns, Emma Alley had 16 points, including four 3-pointers.
In their prelim game, East Grand coach Mike Carlos felt his team defended the Stearns perimeter shooters well, as Stearns lived and died from behind the arc.
“When they had the shot, I felt we altered their shots a little,” he said.
The Lady Vikings led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter and built a 24-20 lead at halftime. In the third, the East Grand girls took a seven-point advantage (38-31) and were able to hold off the Minutemen.
“I felt that they looked past us and were worried about who they played next,” said Carlos. “We are a team where any player on any given night could be the leading scorer. We share the ball and try to hit the open player. They had two players, who we had to key on, which makes developing a game plan a little easier.”
It had been 13 years since the East Grand girls had made a tournament appearance.
“East Grand has been down for such a long time it has taken a great deal of time to develop the confidence necessary to get here,” Carlos added. “The team set a goal of top six and to make it to Bangor.”
They fulfilled that goal. The East Grand girls lost their quarterfinal bid to No. 3 Fort Fairfield on Monday night at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, 54-29.
Wolverines overtake Cougars in prelim
The No. 11 Katahdin Cougars stayed with the No. 6 Schenck Wolverines through the first half of play in last Wednesday’s playoff game in East Millinocket, but eventually were overpowered, 73-49.
“We traded baskets throughout the first quarter,” said Katahdin coach Rick Larrabee, “with both teams taking the lead at different times. A minute into the second quarter, Brandon Drew, our big man, went up for a rebound and rolled his ankle when he came down. We ended up losing him for the rest of the game.”
But, the Cougars did not help themselves in the contest as Larrabee noted his team had 17 unforced turnovers in first-half action.
Despite those numbers, Katahdin was still in the ballgame at halftime, as they trailed 29-23, after Nick Lane hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer starting intermission.
“In the first half, we were breaking their full court 1-2-1-1 zone pressure with relative ease, so in the third quarter they started using a 1-2-2 half court zone trap that they were getting steals off of when we would reverse the ball out of the trap.”
Larrabee said his team was still committing unforced errors, which led to Schenck taking control of the game.
“Once they were up by 15-plus points, they started spreading their offense,” explained Larrabee. “They pulled our defenders away from the basket, which allowed them to penetrate and dish to open teammates as we had to rotate to pick up the man who was driving into the paint.”
Larrabee noted the game was closer than the final score would indicate, as Schenck pulled away in the late stages of the game.
With this season in the books, Larrabee said next year looks promising for the Cougars.
“Katahdin will be a little bit smaller, but quicker,” he said. “We should have more shooters and a few more ball handlers to help relieve some of the ball-handling duties from our point guard. We’re going to have to apply a lot more ball pressure on the perimeter and possibly apply more full-court pressure throughout each game. We’ll have a lot of experience coming back with players who are determined to reach Bangor.”
Lady Cougars tamed
in overtime
“It was a great game! The best game of the season,” said Katahdin girls coach Jona Fitzpatrick of her team’s playoff game against Shead in Eastport last Tuesday night.
Despite the effort, the Lady Cougars lost in overtime, 44-42.
Molly Cunningham led Katahdin with 15 points, while Courtney Stevens tossed in 12 more.
For Shead, Cierra Seeley had a game-high 18 points, with Holly Preston’s support of 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The Lady Cougars trailed 10-4 to start the game, but outscored the Tigers in the second by a point, but were still behind at halftime, 17-12.
“We made some adjustments at the half, and the girls came out ready,” Fitzpatrick explained.
The Lady Cougars played pretty even with the Tigers through the third, but they still were behind, 31-22. “It was a good back-and-forth game the whole way,” said Fitzpatrick. “But, it was in the fourth quarter where things started to turn for us.”
At one point, Fitzpatrick said Shead held a 12-point lead, but the Lady Cougars’ full-court man pressure wore them down.
“They started to make some mistakes and turnovers,” she said. “The girls played very tough defense. We also rebounded better offensively in the second half and shot better.”
The Lady Cougars Kaycee Cintron sent the game into overtime, but the Katahdin girls were unable to close out the win in overtime.
“They worked very hard,” said Fitzpatrick. “We had a few quick errors in overtime, but it could have been anyone’s game.”
Cintron finished the night with nine points, while Georgia Landry had six points.
“It was a heartbreaking loss for the girls, but I am so proud of my team,” said Fitzpatrick. “I look back and say, if only we had a few more minutes on the clock. They came to compete, and compete they did.”
The Lady Cougars were ranked 15th and gave the No. 2 seed all they wanted.
“I say we have a lot to be proud of,” Fitzpatrick added. “I have no seniors this year, so I am so excited for what we will bring to the court next year. We are coming to play! My girls are workers, and our biggest goal is to get to the Cross Center and play in the tournament. We had a very solid season, and I can’t wait to bring it next year. Our team is very motivated. I feel so fortunate to coach this fantastic group of girls.”
Hawks fall prey to Bulldogs
“We went into the prelim game knowing we would have to contain Logan Wood,” said Hodgdon boys coach Robbie Smith. “We contained him from the field shooting, but he hurt us from the free throw line.”
Wood finished with a game-high 31 points, as the Bulldogs overtook Hodgdon, 78-53, last Wednesday night in Machias.
“They shot very well in their building and are an aggressive team,” said Smith. “It was a good experience for us, as most of our players had not played significant minutes in a playoff game.”
The Hawks fell behind early, 24-13, and were outscored 22-4 in the second period of play, which broke the game open.
But, the Hawks did not fold.
“We had a great third quarter outscoring the Bulldogs, 23-16, after being down 29 at the half,” Smith explained. “Once we were down, we set small goals and we worked on things that will help us in the future for the returning players. The fans and atmosphere were great at Machias. I would like to thank our fans that drove to Machias and supported us during the playoff game.”
Jimmy Buzzell led Hodgdon with 14 points, while Kevin McAfee dropped in 12. Devin Quint, Daden Palmer and Keegan Gardner each added seven points.
“We may not have met our goal to play in Bangor, but we did meet our goal to play and come together as a team,” Smith said. “Our team continually improved on the court from game one to 19. It may not always show up in the win column, but there were times in a loss that we grew and could see improvements in individuals and the team.”
The Hawks will lose three seniors in Tyler Barton, Gardner and Quint.
“As a team we were excited to see Keegan be able to come back and finish his senior year,” added Smith.
