FF edges past Calais in quarterfinal
BANGOR, Maine — After watching Fort Fairfield’s Taylor Churchill and Chelsey Pelkey light up Calais earlier this week, Penobscot Valley girls basketball coach Joe Cyr knew he had to roll the dice defensively.
Cyr’s Howlers threw every dynamic defense possible from triangle and two’s to box-and-one’s at the Tigers’ stars, and the gamble paid huge dividends.
The fourth-ranked Howlers limited that duo to 11 points while three different Penobscot Valley players had at least 10 points as the Howlers stunned the top-ranked Tigers with a 47-34 Class C North victory Friday at the Cross Insurance Center.
Fort Fairfield concludes its season with an 18-2 record.
The Howlers and Knights did not meet in the regular season.
Penobscot Valley broke open a close game with a 12-3 run to open the fourth quarter, with 6-foot-1 center Sami Ireland scoring eight of her game-high 14 points over that span.
Ireland was also a force on the backboards against the smaller Tigers, hauling down 15 rebounds.
“We knew we were bigger,” said Cyr, whose team last appeared in a regional semifinal in 2007, losing to Calais.
Amy Hallett had 13 points for Penobscot Valley and Elizabeth McKinnon 10 in Cyr’s balanced offense.
In addition to their stingy defensive effort, the Howlers were able to attack the basket well against an aggressive Tigers team and the result was Fort Fairfield foul trouble.
“Everybody knew they’re a very physical aggressive team, we just had to make sure we kept our cool and not play into it, and we did,” said Cyr.
Fort Fairfield’s Churchill would foul out early in the fourth quarter, allowing the Howlers to shift their defensive focus to Pelkey.
“When Churchill fouled out, we just worked our zone and played a box and one on Pelkey and shut her down,” Hallett said.
Fort Fairfield would not get any closer than eight after the Howlers extended their lead to 42-31 with just under four minutes to play in regulation.
The Howlers never trailed in the second half.
“It feels amazing, it’s like no other feeling,” said Hallett. “I don’t even really believe it. It was hard-earned, and we worked really hard for it.”
The Howlers were also able to utilize their backcourt quickness to counter Fort Fairfield’s 2-2-1 zone press, and used Ireland’s presence on the interior once the Tigers’ foul trouble ballooned in the second half.
“Having a 6-foot-[1 center] definitely helps because she is really good and she is really athletic,” Hallett said.
Kayla Giberson and Pelkey had nine points apiece for Fort Fairfield while Teresa Maynard added eight.
Last Tuesday in the quarterfinal round, It was a grind for the Tigers as eighth seed Calais took them down to the wire.
But Pelkey wasn’t about to end her career on Tuesday night.
The senior guard scored a game-high 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four steals and four assists to lead the Tigers to their 13th consecutive win — a 40-37 victory at the Cross Insurance Center.
Churchill had eight points, three rebounds and two assists for the winners and Giberson had six points and six rebounds. Marissa Brouette had four points and Maynard added five rebounds and two blocked shots to go with a basket.
Impressive freshman Sydney Farrar had 13 points and eight rebounds for 13-7 Calais and Logan Huckins had 10 points and two assists. Faith Tirrell had six points and Prue Maxwell had five and Felicia Moholland had five rebounds. Maxwell collared four rebounds.
Pelkey was the difference in the second half as she had 11 points, six rebounds and three steals and she capped her evening by intercepting a pass as Calais tried to hurry the ball up the court to try to hit a tying 3-pointer.
She was also the Tigers’ primary ballhandler as they tried to protect the lead.
Fort Fairfield led 24-23 at the half but opened the second half with a 12-2 run to extend it to 36-25.
Churchill hit a long 3-pointer to open the half and, after Tirrell hit a short runner for Calais, Pelkey grabbed an offensive rebound and banked it in to trigger a string of nine unanswered points.
Pelkey then made an inbounds pass to Giberson for a six-foot jumper and took a Churchill inbounds feed and nailed a three-pointer from the left side.
Pelkey capped the spurt with a driving one-handed bank shot from the right.
Maxwell snapped the string by popping home her own rebound with 1:40 left in the quarter.
Pelkey began the fourth quarter by converting her own rebound before the Blue Devils rattled off eight straight points to pull within 38-35 with 1:58 left.
Maxwell fed Katie Erskine under the basket for a basket and Farrar hit a 10-foot runner before going the length of the court for a layup.
Again it was Pelkey who came to the rescue by converting a Churchill pass with a short baseline jumper to make it 40-35 with 1:40 left.
Pelkey grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled but couldn’t convert.
Huckins hit a runner with 55 seconds left but Pelkey and her mates did a good job protecting the lead before Calais eventually reached the foul limit and sent Pelkey to the foul line with 7.7 seconds remaining.
Pelkey missed her free throw but stole the pass to cement the win.
Fort Fairfield used a 10-4 run to take a 16-8 lead after the first quarter and Churchill’s three-pointer extended the lead to 19-8 to open the second period.
But Farrar scored the next seven points to rally the Blue Devils.
Farrar converted a pair of traditional three-point plays and added a free throw to make 19-15.
Tirrell and Farrar tied it with consecutive baskets before Pelkey fed Churchill for a three-pointer and hit a 12-foot jumper to restore a five-point lead.
Huckins’ four-foot runner and Tirrell’s steal and layup at the buzzer closed out the half and pulled Calais within one.
