Accurate GSA nails shots, upsets Trojans> Eagles missed just 4 in 2nd

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BANGOR – After losing twice to the Mount Desert Island girls during the regular season, George Stevens Academy coach Larry Gray made a few changes for Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal.

First, he abandoned fullcourt and halfcourt traps that the No. 3 Trojans had been able to exploit.

Then he sat back and watched his sixth-seeded Eagles make those changes academic by missing only four shots in the second half in a 57-37 win over the defending state champs.

In their first season in Class B, the sophomore-led Eagles won their 10th straight game to improve to 15-4.Next up is a semifinal showdown with No. 2 Orono at 2:05 p.m. Wednesday. MDI finished 14-5.

“You can talk about all the adjustments you want, but if you make everything but four shots, adjustments be damned. It doesn’t matter,” Gray said.

The defense – a soft zone packed into the bucket – worked. But the lights-out shooting didn’t hurt either.

The Eagles of Blue Hill took a 24-18 lead into the locker room, then blew the game open in the third by drilling their first six shots.

By the time they missed, GSA led 39-20. And they didn’t slow down. The Eagles made 13 of 17 attempts (77 percent) – after intermission and cruised to the win.

“They were taking our aggressiveness to their advantage and doing backdoor cuts,” sophomore guard Nikki Allen said of the regular season contests.

On Saturday, there were no backdoor cuts, as the Trojans were free to shoot from outside, but contested vigorously down low.

Allen scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while classmate Mandi Allen added 14 points and seven boards. Fellow soph starter Lora Trenkle pitched in with 10 points.

The Trojans got 14 points from Melissa Gott.

Eagles 57, Trojans 37

George Stevens (15-4) MDI girls (14-5)

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

Jackson 0 0 0 0 0 Kane 0 1 0 0 0

N. Allen 5 11 5 7 16 Walls 0 2 0 0 0

M. Allen 7 11 0 0 14 Lawson 4 12 0 0 8

Wood 0 0 0 0 0 Reed 0 4 1 2 1

Hewitt 0 0 0 0 0 Kaldro 3 9 1 1 7

Trenkle 4 6 2 2 10 J. Gott 1 2 0 0 2

Haney 1 1 0 0 2 Haskell 1 4 0 0 3

Ashe 2 3 2 3 6 Graves 0 9 0 0 0

Erland 0 0 0 0 0 Stetler 1 5 0 2 2

Bishop 0 1 0 0 0 M. Gott 6 7 2 2 14

Pemberton 4 5 1 3 9

Astbury 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 38 10 15 57 Totals 16 55 4 7 37

George Stevens 12 24 46 57

Mount Desert Island 9 18 27 37

3-pt. goals: George Stevens (1-4): N. Allen 1-4; MDI (1-6): Walls 0-1, Haskell 1-3, Graves 0-2