Prelim contest feels like tourney Nokomis, Skowhegan roll past opponents

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BANGOR – It was just a Northeastern Class A girls divisional quarterfinal in a local high school gym, but the noise, crowd, and accoutrements certainly had the feel of a Bangor Auditorium tournament game.

Bands and cheerleaders from both teams, as well as a good crowd, were all on hand for Tuesday’s game between Bangor and Lawrence of Fairfield at Red Barry Gym.

Bangor won the game 57-34.

In other prelim games, No. 2 Skowhegan eliminated No. 7 Presque Isle 62-38 and No. 1 Nokomis of Newport ousted No. 9 Brewer 56-29.

The two bands took turns playing before the game and during halftime, just like they do at the Auditorium. Lawrence band director Loren Fields sang along on a microphone with the Bulldog fans as they belted out the school song. It’s rare for a visiting band to accompany a team, although Lawrence coach J.R. Richards said the band sometimes travels to away games.

Rather than sit in the stands, the bands sat behind their respective team’s bench.

Lawrence brought along its gray Bulldog mascot. Even the announcing was reminiscent of the tourney – Lance Fenimore, who works all Bangor boys and girls games, announces tourney games at the Auditorium.

“It was just good to get the fans into it and get a lot of emotion,” Bangor point guard Ashley Tower said. “We had a lot of emotion. The fans were out, the bands were loud, right behind us. It was great.”

Richards likely to step down

Lawrence of Fairfield coach J.R. Richards said he will most likely not return to the school’s girls basketball team next season because of family obligations.

Richards has coached the Bulldogs for the past three years, and the team has shown distinct improvement each season. Lawrence went from eight wins, to 10, to the 12 the Bulldogs picked up this year.

But Richards, who was an assistant coach on the 1998 Class A state championship Skowhegan boys team, has a daughter entering high school next year.

“For family issues I am probably leaning towards not [returning],” Richards said after Lawrence ended its season with a loss at Bangor. “I’d love to. I hope it all works out but right now, if I had to make a decision today, I’m leaning towards not.”

Nokomis 56, Brewer 29

At Newport, Danielle Clark poured in 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the top-ranked Warriors rolled by No. 9 Brewer in the divisional round game.

Gillian Snow tossed in 15 points for Nokomis.

Amy Freeman sparked the Witches with 11 points.

Brewer (5-15) 29

Adams 1-0-2, Bean 2-0-5, Hamm, Freeman 4-1-11, McLaughlin, Wing 1-1-3, McAvoy 3-2-8, Armstrong, Chapman, Alberding, Michaud, Eason

Nokomis (17-2) 56

Murray 3-0-9, K. Gould, Snow 7-0-15, MacKenzie 2-0-4, Gonzalez, Paradis 2-1-5, Merrow 1-0-2, Perry 1-0-2, Lowe, Clark 7-5-19

3-pt. goals: Freeman 2, Bean; Murray 3, Snow

Brewer 4 9 12 29

Nokomis 19 28 45 56

Skowhegan 62, Presque Isle 38

At Skowhegan, the No. 2 Indians used a balanced scoring attack to eliminate the No. 7 Wildcats in a Northeast second-round game.

Bri Searles led Skowhegan with 13 points and Sarah Davis added 10.

Billi Blanchard scored 11 points to lead Presque Isle while Melissa Demerchant and Autumn Tuttle each netted 10.

Presque Isle (10-10) 38

Deschane, DeLong 1-0-2, McKenna, Post 2-0-4, Condon 0-1-1, Demerchant 4-02-10, McHatten, Blanchard 3-4-11, Tuttle

Skowhegan (18-1) 62

Gibson, Albert, A. Berry 2-0-4, Brown, West, Sylvain, Smith, Searles 5-0-13, Ballard 4-0-8, McDaniel 2-0-5, Davis 4-0-10, Suraovikova, Hilton 3-0-6, M. Berry 3-3-9, Jones 2-3-7

3-pt. goals: Blanchard; Searles 3, Davis 2

Presque Isle 12 22 33 38

Skowhegan 18 35 55 62