BANGOR, Maine — A strong all-around effort carried the No. 3 Fort Fairfield (18-2) Tigers past No. 6 East Grand, 54-29, Saturday evening in an Eastern Class D girls quarterfinal.
Fort Fairfield faces No. 7 Van Buren, who upset No. 2 Shead in the nightcap, Thursday, Feb. 19 at 2:05 p.m. in the semifinals.
The Vikings finish their season with a 12-6 record.
Junior guard Taylor Churchill led Fort Fairfield with 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, earning her the Darling’s/BDN Player of the Game honor. Churchill scored seven of her 16 points in the fourth quarter and was a defensive stalwart for the Tigers.
Senior forward Megan Jellison chipped in 13 points, converting many of those baskets from inside the paint as she used her 5-foot, 8-inch frame to establish dominance down low. Junior forward Teresa Maynard added eight points for the Tigers, also from the low post.
Senior forward Allie McEwen led East Grand with 16 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. Sophomore forward Sarah Stoddard added 10 points.
“The game went as we hoped it would go, in terms of extending the floor to make it a 94-foot game,” said Fort Fairfield coach Larry Gardner. “We wanted to wear them (East Grand) down, but I think we got a little fatigued as well in the second quarter.
East Grand, appearing in a tournament game in Bangor for the first time in 13 years, scored the game’s first points, but when Fort Fairfield, a perennial tourney powerhouse in Class D, began pressing, the wheels began to unravel for the Vikings. Fort Fairfield rattled off 10 straight points to close out the first quarter up 16-4. East Grand never recovered.
“Our goal this season was to finish in the top six and make it to Bangor,” East Grand coach Mike Carlos said. “We achieved our team goals, but we fell short of exceeding that goal. It was a great year for the town of Danforth.”
The lack of experience playing in Bangor resulted in some jitters, the coach admitted, but the loss was not without benefits.
“We have to learn how to lose before we can learn how to win,” Carlos said.
