Calais runs by Stearns in fourth quarter Last game for coach Burleigh

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BANGOR – Heading into the Eastern Maine Class C tournament the Calais girls had the top seed but some worries about how the Blue Devils would play against teams with dominant centers and forwards.

Calais got its answer Friday night. Katie Frost pumped in a game-high 20 points and the No. 1 Devils scored the final 15 points of the game to hold off No. 4 Stearns of Millinocket in a semifinal matchup at the Bangor Auditorium.

“We wanted to step up and show that we are a great team and that we deserve to be No. 1,” said Frost.

Calais will face No. 3 Mattanawcook of Lincoln for the Class C regional championship Saturday night. The Lynx dealt the Blue Devils their only loss of the regular season.

Calais is now 19-1, while the Minutemen finish the year with a 13-7 record.

Not only is their season over, but Stearns coach Jerry Burleigh said this is his last season with the team he has coached for 19 years.

“Tough way to end it but it’s gotta end sometime,” he said.

The Minutemen gave Burleigh a game to remember as they rallied from a 25-15 halftime Calais lead to cut the Blue Devils’ advantage to a slim four-point margin in the third quarter.

Stearns’ move coincided with two events: fine execution on its press, and Calais guard-forward Lanna Martin’s foul trouble. Martin handles the ball for the Blue Devils.

“We still were close when she was in there but when she goes out it allows us to put the press on them, which got us two or three steals,” Burleigh said. “But we still didn’t execute when we got the ball and we had too many turnovers.”

The Minutemen finished with 27 turnovers; the Blue Devils had 17.

Calais held Stearns scoreless for the final 5:03 of the game while the Blue Devils went to the free-throw line. Lanna Martin’s sister Crystal Martin had scored twice off rebounds and Lanna Martin added a basket during the stretch.

“We just kept stealing the ball. If we step up and play defense, we always win,” Frost said.

Free-throw shooting helped keep the Blue Devils ahead in the fourth quarter. They went 8-for-11 in the period.

Frost made seven of her 14 field goal attempts. Martin chipped in with 12 points. She sat on the bench

Kari Redding tossed in 15 points, including seven in the fourth quarter and a 3-pointer at the final buzzer.

Just as she did in Stearns’ quarterfinal win over Lee Academy, 5-foot-10 forward Shena Pineau came off the bench in the first quarter to spark the Minutemen. She finished with 14 points.

Pam Pelletier, a 5-10 center, also had 14 points.

“Teams come right at us because of that so we have to do a better job of boxing out,” Calais coach Bob McShane said. “We want to prove that we can still win.”

Blue Devils 57, Minutemen 38

Stearns (13-7) Calais (19-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

A. MacKenzie 0 3 0 0 0 C. Martin 3 9

Nason 0 4 0 0 0 Frost 7 14 20

Legassey 2 3 0 0 4 L. Martin 4 12

Pineau 5 15 2 2 12 Feck 0 5 0

K. MacKenzie 0 0 0 0 0 L. Martin 4 12

Boynton 0 2 1 2 1 Feck 0 5 0

Pelletier 6 12 0 0 12 Redding 5 10 15

Achorn 1 6 2 2 4 Welch 0 1 1

Raymond 2 6 1 1 5

Totals 16 51 6 7 38 19 43 15 28 57

Stearns 4 15 32 38

Calais 17 25 36 57

3-pt. goals: Stearns (0-3): Nason 0-1, A. MacKenzie 0-2; Calais (4-11): Frost 2-5, L. Martin 1-2, Redding 1-2, C. Martin 0-2