For awhile, it appeared that University of Maine-bound Sandi Carver would be the Ted Williams or Carl Yastrzemski of the Jonesport-Beals Royalettes: great players on teams that never won it all.

After being thwarted in three previous tournament trips, Jonesport-Beals finally won the big one with a 59-54 Eastern Maine Class D girls championship victory – the team’s first – over undefeated Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook on Saturday morning at the Bangor Auditorium.

The 19-2 Royalettes will take on Western Maine champ Richmond in the state championship game at 1 p.m. next Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

“People just kind of wrote us off,” said Jonesport-Beals coach Duane Carver. “They figured, `Well, we’ll go see ’em play and then we’ll watch the boys play afterward because the girls are gonna lose anyway.’ ”

“Now they’re beginning to believe, and the kids are believing in themselves. I told them the only way they’re going to get respect is to go out and earn it, and that’s what they’ve done.”

The aggressive Jonesport-Beals girls hustled, sprinted, and dove for every loose ball and rebound – and played smart defense – to forge the upset over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Southern Aroostook.

That aggressiveness began to play into the hands of Southern Aroostook, however, as the Warriors began a slow comeback late in the first half.

“We were a little too run-and-gun in the first half,” said Sandi Carver, who led the Royalettes’ offense with 23 points. “But that’s (Southern Aroostook’s) style of play, so we knew we couldn’t play like that or they were just going to take it away from us.”

So the Royalettes didn’t play like that. They concentrated on rebounding and went to a half-court style of offense if an easy hoop was not immediately available.

With the emphasis on a half-court offense, the spotlight shifted to sophomore center Jan Beal, who had managed only five points in the first half.

Carver’s successful perimeter shooting in the first half and the start of the second helped open up the lane for Beal, who totaled nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocks – all in the second half.

“We’re lucky because whenever a team double-teams Sandi or someone else, it leaves someone else free, and her shooting helped Kristi and me get inside more in the second half,” said Beal.

Beal finished with 14 points and nine boards.

“She was getting boxed out and not making an attempt to get out to get the ball,” said Duane Carver. “We had her cut in a little more.”

Jonesport-Beals utilized a 3-2 defense against Southern Aroostook that helped keep the Warriors away from the boards.

“They were kind of taking away the perimeter shooting from us,” said Warriors coach Tom Berry.

“When you clog up the outside shooting, take away our post offense, and we’re not getting any transition baskets, that forces us to take shots we don’t really want to take,” he said.

“This summer, the kids went up to Orono to a camp to work on their rebounding,” said Duane Carver. “Since they came back, all three girls (Beal, Sandi Carver, and Kristi Carver) have competed with anyone on rebounding.”

Besides her 23 points, Sandi Carver had seven assists, six rebounds, three blocked shots, and two steals. Kristi Carver chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds for the Royalettes, and Stacey Beal came off the bench to score nine points.

For the 20-1 Warriors, Jessica Walker led the team with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jody Brown had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Janet Corneil added 10 points.

Royalettes 59, Warriors 54

Jonesport-Beals girls So. Aroostook

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Fagonde 2 1 0 0 2 Collier 10 3 0 0 7

Stanhope 2 0 0 0 0 Mathers 7 3 6 3 9

S. Carver 20 8 6 6 23 Ja. Walker 5 1 0 0 2

Mills 1 0 2 1 1 Brown 8 4 6 4 12

K. Carver 6 4 2 2 10 Corneil 14 4 5 2 10

S. Beal 4 4 1 0 9 Roy 1 1 0 0 2

J. Beal 13 6 3 2 14 Mayberry 0 0 0 0 0

Je. Walker 13 4 7 4 12

Totals 48 23 14 11 59 Totals 58 20 24 13 54

Jonesport-Beals 14 25 46 59

Southern Aroostook 9 22 41 54

3-pt. goals: Jonesport-Beals (2-3): S. Carver (1-2), S. Beal (1-1); Southern Aroostook (1-6): Collier (1-1), Corneil (0-2), Je. Walker (0-3)