Bench sparks Hornets

loading...

BANGOR – Amazing things happen when a team is playing to stay alive.

Monday in the Eastern Maine Class D girls quarterfinals at Bangor Auditorium, No. 6 Ashland upset No. 3 Greenville 39-37 after two Hornet starters fouled out.

Fortunately for Ashland, an inexperienced bench came through down the stretch as Hornets Nikki Fournier and Emily Marecaux helped to hold off a late Greenville rally and Fournier came through with a clutch layup to secure the win.

In the other girls Class D quarterfinal matchup, No. 2 Jonesport-Beals hammered No. 7 Shead 82-47. Ashland, now 12-7, will face 16-3 Jonesport-Beals at 2:05 p.m. on Thursday.

In the early game, Alicia Nason, normally Ashland’s leading scorer, and Amy Palmer fouled out down the stretch, when the Hornets needed their starters to step up.

“Of course I was worried when our starters fouled out,” Ashland coach William Nemer said. “We play a tough schedule, so our starting five work well together, but beyond that, you never know. In a game like this, you give your starting five a longer time.”

Both teams shot just 20 percent from the floor, but Ashland pulled ahead by nine through the second and third periods. Then it squandered its lead by sending Greenville to the line throughout the fourth.

The last period opened with a 3-pointer from Lakers’ Maren Muzzy and then the next 6:30 was a foul-shooting contest.

In the last period, Greenville was able to whittle widdle down Ashland’s 31-23 lead with only 6-of-13 shooting from the line. Part of the reason why was because Ashland went 5 for 12 from the line and 1 for 15 from the floor in the fourth.

With 50 seconds left, Greenville’s Julie Graham put down a layup to put the Lakers within three.

Then Fournier sank Ashland’s only field goal of the period – and a beauty.

Ashland’s Erin Soucy passed off to Kristina Caron at halfcourt and the senior starter had the presence of mind to risk feeding a pass to a wide-open Fournier who had only just entered the game. Fournier finished the play with a smooth layup to put the Hornets up 37-34.

The basket made the difference. Before the buzzer sounded, Greenville’s Garnet Korsman put down a 3-pointer to make it 39-37, but it was too late.

In the later game, Jonesport-Beals, led by Jan Beal, took a 23-11 first-quarter lead and then blew it open.

Beal scored 11 of her 25 points in the first period. Stacey Beal added 17 points.

“I’ve been waiting for us to play up to our potential, and today we did,” Jonesport-Beals coach Blaine Steeves said. “Today we wanted to establish our inside game.”

Beal led on the boards pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds, while Kristi Carver grabbed 13.

The Royalettes used effective man-to-man coverage in the low post and used a 3-2 zone outside to shut down the Tigerettes’ perimeter shots. The zone defense stopped Shead’s starting guards as Nicole Barnes managed just five points and Bobbie-Lea Ricker didn’t score.

Bobbie Stuard led for Shead with eight points.

The Royalettes almost doubled their lead in the second half by outscoring the Tigerettes 20-7 in the third period.

Hornets 39, Lakers 37

Ashland (13-7) Greenville (13-6)

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

Marecaux 1 4 2 6 4 Muzzy 2 10 6 9 11

Nason 2 7 1 4 5 Wallingford 1 5 1 2 3

Palmer 1 9 1 5 3 Korsman 3 13 2 4 9

Caron 0 6 0 2 0 Graham 1 3 1 1 3

Soucy 5 21 6 9 18 Ryder 3 14 4 7 11

Fournier 1 1 0 0 2 Christensen 0 1 0 1 0

Saucier 2 5 3 6 7 Folsom 0 3 0 0 0

Totals 12 53 13 32 39 Totals 10 49 14 26 37

Greenville 6 11 23 37

Ashland 5 17 31 39

3-pt. goals: Ashland (2-5): Palmer 0-2, Soucy 2-3; Greenville (3-11): Muzzy 1-4, Korsman 1-3, Ryder 1-4

Royalettes 82, Tigerettes 47

Shead girls (11-8) Jonesport-Beals (16-3)

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

Thompson 3 3 0 0 6 J. Beal 9 17 6 10 25

Lingley 1 1 1 2 3 L.Woodward 1 2 0 0 2

Mills 2 3 1 2 5 Stewart 2 4 2 4 6

Stuart 4 10 0 4 8 Fagonde 2 8 0 2 4

Seeley 1 4 0 0 2 Carver 4 12 1 1 9

Davis 1 2 0 0 2 S. Beal 6 7 4 4 17

Ingersoll 2 10 0 0 5 Bryant 4 5 0 0 8

Mattherson 3 5 0 0 7 Smith 1 3 0 0 2

Klentzman 1 3 2 2 4 R.Woodward 0 6 1 2 1

Barnes 2 8 0 4 5 Davis 3 7 2 4 8

L. Beal 0 0 0 0 0

T. Beal 0 0 0 0 0

Peabody 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 49 4 14 47 Totals 32 51 16 27 82

Shead 11 24 31 47

Jonesport-Beals 23 41 61 82

3-pt. goals: Shead (3-8): Mills 0-1, Stuart 0-1, Ingersoll 1-1, Mattherson 1-1, Klentzman 0-1, Barnes 1-3; Jonesport-Beals (2-4): Bryant 0-1, S. Beal 1-2, J. Beal 1-1