In the first quarter of Friday night’s state girls Class B basketball championship at the Bangor Auditorium, 6-foot-1 York center Joanna Brown and 6-0 Hermon post player Stephanie Huff found themselves at close quarters in the paint.

Each struggled, with Brown making only one of five shots and Huff making the only shot she took.

But when Huff picked up her second foul and left the game with 23 seconds left in the first, Brown responded to increased maneuvering room in the lane by embarking on a 22-point, 11-rebound, three-assist night that gave the Wildcats a 64-37 state championship win.

Brown opened the second quarter by scoring six straight York points against the Huff-less Hawks. And when Huff came back into the game with 4:56 left in the half, Brown greeted her with a three-point play that pushed the York lead to 24-13.

“She was very tough,” Hermon coach Tim Thornton said of Brown. “She didn’t just turn around and shoot the basketball. She kept the ball low and made a move against Stephanie.”

York coach Rick Clark said he thought Brown would be able to score down low.

“We felt that Joanna could take their big girl,” Clark said. “She’s not quite as experienced as Joanna, and Joanna did a good job against her.”

“When she went out, they were able to lob the ball into me,” Brown said of her second-quarter binge. “When Huff came back in, I don’t think I was able to get off a shot, except for on the fast break.”

On defense, the Wildcats sagged inside in their man-to-man set, contesting sophomore Liza Doughty on the outside but leaving the other Hawks free to shoot from the perimeter. The result was a 7-for-29 shooting effort in the first half.

“They just sagged inside, and we have a little trouble shooting from outside, and they realized that,” Thornton said. “Except for Liza. They just played player-to-player on Liza and didn’t allow her the open shot.”

The Wildcats outrebounded the Hawks 26-12 in the first half and took a 34-15 lead into the break after a close 15-11 first quarter. But like it had in last week’s Eastern Maine final, Hermon rallied early in the third quarter.

Heidi Pace scored six points in a 10-2 run that brought Hermon within 36-25, but York reeled off the next six points on hoops by Andrea Little and Jessica Martel and two free throws by Brown to end the run.

Clark called a timeout at the end of the run, but said he didn’t get frantic in the team’s huddle.

“The first thing I said was, this is just to remind you of something,” Clark said. “You still have a substantial lead, and I’m not worried about that. I just don’t want to get into a trend here.”

In the fourth, the real trend continued, with Brown scoring six of the Wildcats 10 straight points to open the quarter. Her final hoop, on a fast-break layup, put York up 54-29.

The Wildcats shot only 37 percent from the floor in the game, but outrebounded Hermon 45-27 and got off 70 shots. The Hawks shot 29 percent on 16-for-56 accuracy.

Add the rebounding advantage to a potent fast break, and the Wildcats were tough to stop.

“Most of my baskets came from just running down the floor on the fast break,” Brown said. “That’s the kind of game we play. Coach used to say we’re not that good on our set offense.”

Doughty suffered through a 2-for-16 shooting night and finished with five points for 15-6 Hermon.

Junior forward Pace led the Hawks with 16 points, while Doughty finished with eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Little scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who finish 20-1.

Wildcats 64, Hawks 37

York girls Hermon

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

Orchard 0 0 2 1 1 Burr 6 0 2 0 0

Plaisted 4 1 0 0 2 Hei. Pace 11 7 2 2 16

Martel 7 3 0 0 6 Clukey 0 0 0 0 0

L. Brown 3 2 2 1 5 Hea. Pace 8 2 0 0 4

Little 21 4 2 2 10 Smith 0 0 2 2 2

Herbein 0 0 0 0 0 Luce 0 0 0 0 0

MacDonald 4 1 2 1 3 Doughty 16 2 4 1 5

d’ Entremont 6 2 2 1 5 Page 2 0 0 0 0

Gagnon 1 1 0 0 2 Richardson 7 2 0 0 4

J. Brown 16 9 5 4 22 Rines 4 2 0 0 4

Chapman 8 3 4 2 8 Johnston 0 0 0 0 0

Ramisch 0 0 0 0 0

Huff 2 1 0 0 2

Totals 70 26 19 12 64 Totals 56 16 8 5 37

York 15 34 44 64

Hermon 11 15 29 37

3-pt. goals: York (0-3): Chapman 0-3; Hermon (0-9): Burr 0-2, Hea. Pace 0-2, Doughty 0-3, Page 0-1, Richardson 0-1