November 07, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

`A’ semifinals due tonight

The past, for Meaghan Lane, is just that. Gone. History. Nothing but memories.

For Lane, as well as her teammates on the Cony Rams schoolgirl basketball team, the past has been full of many good memories. Sixty-one consecutive regular season victories and three Eastern Maine Class A championships in a row are the highs of past.

On Dec. 19 of last year, however, came a bad memory. A blemish. A loss. To Skowhegan, 61-55.

Don’t look for the Augusta-based Rams of Coach Paul Vachon to be thinking about that loss Thursday night at the Bangor Auditorium, site of the EM Class A semifinals. For Lane and her teammates, reliving the past will not beat Skowhegan, Cony’s semifinal opponent.

The No. 1 Rams, 18-1, and the fifth-seeded Indians, 15-4, will meet at 8:30 p.m. Thursday following Class A’s other semifinal game between Old Town and Presque Isle. Old Town, the second seed, takes a 13-6 record into that game while the third-seeded Wildcats come in 14-5.

In the nightcap, the rubber match of Skowhegan vs. Cony should generate a lot of interest because, for a change, Cony comes in as a beatable team after not losing a regular season game since 1986.

“I don’t think it was a fluke,” Lane said about why the Rams aren’t looking at the game as a chance for revenge. “They are a really good, scrappy team. Both teams are really well acquainted with each other since we played each other twice and we both know what we have to do to win. (The loss) was unfortunate but, looking back, I think it was good for us.”

Cony will look to Lane, a senior guard, and Angela Nadeau, a 5-11 junior center, to lead them to the EM final while the Indians will need big games from the senior duo of forward Tammy Higgins and guard Christie Jones.

In the first game, it will be the third meeting this season for two Big East teams – Old Town and Presque Isle – that also split its regular season games.

The Wildcats handed Old Town a season-opening overtime loss (54-47) but the Indians rebounded to top Presque Isle 52-47 later in the season.

Presque Isle, under Coach Dick Barstow, and Old Town, under Coach Garry Spencer, are nearly mirror images of each other. Both are senior-heavy teams (PI has 6, OT has 5) with decent height and good balance.

The second-seeded Indians will look to 5-10 senior forward Denise Treadwell (a 1,000-point scorer), 5-8 senior swingman Michelle Corro, 5-9 junior forward Karen Case, and 5-8 sophomore guard Heather Brewer.

The Wildcats answer with 5-8 senior forward Stacy Hafford, 6-1 senior center Kerry Eaton, 5-3 sophomore guard Nikki Fulton, and 5-10 sophomore forward Jennifer Hersey.


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