Carver sparks Jonesport-Beals; White lifts Southern Aroostook

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BANGOR – Tricia Carver broke one tournament record and tied another Thursday, but her ability to avoid fouling out in a tightly called game may have been her more impressive feat of the day.

The freshman forward broke the 14-year-old record for points in an Eastern Maine Class D girls tournament with 43 to lead her Royalettes to a 68-57 semifinal girls basketball win over Wisdom of St. Agatha Thursday.

Carver also tied another 14-year-old mark, for free throws scored in a Class D game, with 12.

The third-seeded Royalettes will take their 15-5 record into Saturday’s 9:05 a.m. championship game against Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook.

The top-seeded Warriors ran away from No. 4 Central Aroostook of Mars Hill 51-29 Thursday night.

The No. 7 Wisdom Pioneers end their season 11-7 while the Panthers finish 14-5.

Thursday afternoon, Carver and the Royalettes were unstoppable inside, scoring 72 percent of their points from the paint and outrebounding Wisdom 46-29.

“Before we went in, I told my girls, `Listen, we’re not going to get a second shot. You have to put the ball in the first time,’ ” said Wisdom coach Mim Gagnon.

But the Pioneers could manage only 35 percent from the floor while Jonesport-Beals was shooting at a 42 percent clip.

The highlight of the game was the clash between Carver and Wisdom star guard Tracy Guerrette.

But the clash didn’t go all four rounds as Guerrette fouled out with 1:05 left in the third quarter, but not before she notched 25 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“The difference was Guerrette getting in foul trouble. Wisdom was a different team without her on the floor. She does it all for them,” said Jonesport-Beals coach Blaine Steeves.

The Royalettes took a nine-point in the third. Although Wisdom held its own down the stretch, without Guerrette, it never got closer than six points the rest of the way.

“When she’s out of the game, I think our confidence level goes down a bit,” said Gagnon.

Carver, who also grabbed 20 rebounds, looked like she’d join Guerrette on the bench after being called for her fourth foul with 7:46 left in the fourth quarter. Teammate Robin Woodward fouled out with 5:53 to play. Carver returned from the bench a few seconds later and never went back.

“I never expected to score that much,” said Carver. “I had a bad first quarter, or what I felt was a bad quarter for me.”

With eight points and nine rebounds in the first quarter, the Pioneers would probably hate to see what Carver considers a good one.

Thursday night, Southern Aroostook proved its coaches may have changed, but the system – and the results – remain the same.

First-year coach Jon Porter has taken the baton from Tom Berry, who won two state titles at SAHS, and run with it – in much the same way his Warriors ran the Panthers ragged in the second half.

“There’s a method to our madness. We try to get uptempo and cause confusion. We play better when things are just go-go-go,” said Porter. “We use the Auditorium floor as an advantage to us: Some people have trouble handling the ball on this court. We intensify it by getting in their face and getting pressure on the ball.”

The Warriors turned a four-point halftime lead into a 16-point bulge at the end of the third quarter thanks to a withering, full-court press against which the Panthers committed 24 turnovers to Southern Aroostook’s eight.

“We figured if we double-teamed their guards and pressured them out there, we could get some steals,” said Warriors forward Janna Walker.

Senior center Brittany White ignited an 11-4 run to start the third quarter with six of the Warriors’ first seven points.

With the Panthers double-teaming Walker, White was freed up in the low post. The 5-foot-8 White took advantage and scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half.

“Once she catches it inside, it’s going in,” said CAHS coach Julie Prescott. “With those two [Walker and White], you almost have to pick the lesser of two evils.”

It was hard to tell which was which. White also grabbed eight rebounds while Walker had 12 points, nine boards, and five assists.

Warriors 51, Panthers 29

C. Aroostook girls (14-5) So. Aroostook (19-1)

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

Pratt 0 0 0 0 0 Stevens 2 6 0 0 4

Dill 0 0 0 0 0 Collier 3 11 1 4 7

Clark 4 9 0 0 8 Swallow 0 2 0 0 0

J.Alexander 3 12 2 2 8 Walker 5 8 2 6 12

Lunn 2 10 0 0 4 Lyons 0 6 0 0 0

Whited 0 2 0 2 0 Tarr 0 0 0 0 0

Boyd 0 2 0 2 1 Edkins 0 0 0 0 0

Mahan 1 3 0 0 2 Willigar 2 7 0 0 4

Gosselin 1 1 1 2 3 Long 0 0 0 0 0

Dyer 1 8 0 0 3 White 9 16 0 4 18

McCrum 0 0 0 0 0 Greenlaw 3 4 0 0 6

T.Alexander 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 12 47 3 8 29 Totals 24 60 3 14 51

Central Aroostook 9 15 20 29

Southern Aroostook 9 19 36 51

3-pt. goals: Central Aroostook (1-4): J. Alexander 0-2, Dyer 1-2; Southern Aroostook (0-8): Stevens 0-1, Collier 0-2, Lyons 0-3, Willigar 0-2

Royalettes 68, Pioneers 57

Wisdom girls (11-6) Jonesport-Beals (15-5)

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

Gervais 0 0 0 0 0 Stewart 3 8 0 0 6

Cyr 3 8 0 0 7 Beal 0 0 0 0 0

T.Guerrette 11 18 0 1 25 Alley 1 1 1 3 3

Michaud 4 20 11 14 19 Carver 15 22 12 13 43

Chambrland 2 5 0 0 4 Bryant 3 16 0 0 6

C.Guerrette 0 1 0 1 0 Merchant 0 2 0 0 0

Derosier 1 8 0 0 2 Smorch 0 0 0 0 0

L.Woodward 0 0 0 0 0

R.Woodward 3 10 0 0 6

Davis 2 5 0 0 4

Totals 21 60 11 16 57 Totals 27 64 13 16 68

Wisdom 11 32 43 57

Jonesport-Beals 20 38 54 68

3-pt. goals: Wisdom (4-12): T. Guerrette 3-6, Cyr 1-4, Chamberland 0-1, Derosier 0-1; Jonesport-Beals (1-4): Carver 1-2, Bryant 0-2