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BANGOR – Not only did Woodland’s Kaitlyn Leeman play the role of freshman point guard in Thursday evening’s Class D state championship game at the Bangor Auditorium, but she was also coach Arnie Clark’s dark horse.
Everyone already knows, Clark figured, about guard Ashley Marble and forward Julia Knights, the Dragons’ two main sources of offense. But Leeman, he thought – he hoped – would be an unknown commodity.
As it turns out, Rangeley coach Heidi Deery knew exactly who Leeman was. The Lakers just didn’t know what the 5-
foot-2 Leeman could do.
Leeman poured in a team-high 20 points to lead the Dragons to the state championship with a 66-44 victory over Western Maine champion Rangeley. The gold ball is, according to Knights, the school’s first-ever state championship in any sport.
Woodland and Rangeley both close out their stellar seasons with 19-3 records.
Leeman went 7-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line. She scored seven points in the first quarter, a key effort given that the Dragons struggled with turnovers and missed layups.
“When we were in the locker room I told her, ‘Nobody knows about you, they don’t know how good you are, and if you get a chance to penetrate and take it at them, that’s what I want you to do,”’ Clark said.
“I gave her a little pat and she did a good job.”
The Lakers actually took an 11-8 lead in the first period thanks to a 7-0 run.
“In the first 61/2 minutes we were really executing our game plan and we got away from it a little bit inside,” Deery said. “Marble really took it to us. I feel like we let down a little bit. Our press, at times it was effective and at times it wasn’t, but if you take a mental break on them at all they attack.”
After Knights hit a free throw to get within two points, Leeman drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to put Woodland back up for good. She scored nine points in the first quarter and made the first hoop of the game and the final basket of the first half.
“We knew she could and would penetrate given the opportunity but we thought we could contain her, and we didn’t, and that hurt us, especially in the first half,” Deery said.
After Leeman’s 3-pointer, Knights made two more free throws (she went 9-for-10 from the line and finished with 11 points) and the Dragons kicked in their devastating offensive sequence: Marble stole the ball and made a layup; on the next possession she did the same thing. Woodland emerged with a 20-13 lead and rolled from there.
“We sort of got down on ourselves, but when we started scoring again we got our enthusiasm back up and we decided to not let them take us out of it,” Knights said.
Both teams stuck with a press and man-to-man defense and the turnovers came out about even (Rangeley had 27, Woodland had 25).
The Dragons held a big rebounding edge (44-30), and with three starters listed at 5-9 and taller, it’s something they’ve been able to do all year. Knights finished with 12 rebounds, and Marble and Kristina Huwa had seven apiece.
Marble also had five assists and five steals for the top all-around effort of the game. Huwa had two blocks and Knights added five steals.
Knights actually came out of the game late in the first quarter because she had stepped on a Rangeley player and felt a pop. She was taped up and re-entered the game with 5:39 left in the second quarter.
Sarah Drosdik, a 5-9 forward-center, had a team-high 20 points and 12 rebounds for Rangeley. Guard Lindsay Ellis scored eight points and had seven rebounds.
Ellis, who averaged 13.6 points per game in the Western Maine tournament, was scoreless in the first half.
Dragons 66, Lakers 44
Rangeley girls (19-3) Woodland (19-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Frost-Kolva 0 3 0 0 0 Marble 7 17 14
Frost 0 0 0 0 0 Huwa 4 7 8
Ellis 3 8 2 4 8 Leeman 7 9 20
K. Drosdik 0 0 0 0 0 Smith 2 7 4
Goodwin 3 7 2 4 8 Troiani 0 0 0
S. Drosdik 7 19 6 8 20 Noyes 4 11 9
Grant 1 6 1 4 3 Knights 1 11 10 11
Wing 2 7 1 2 5
Totals 16 50 12 22 44 25 62 14 16 66
Rangeley 13 20 30 44
Woodland 20 34 51 66
3-pt. goals: Rangeley (0-5): Frost-Kolva 0-2, Ellis 0-1, Goodwin 0-2; Woodland (2-3): Marble 0-1, Leeman 1-1, Noyes 1-1
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