Strong inside game powers Cony to win Frye, Underwood lift Rams by Skowhegan

loading...

BANGOR – For years, Cony of Augusta’s girls have made their mark on Maine high school basketball with their usual formula: pressure defense and perimeter shooting.

Thursday night, the Rams did the usual thing in an unusual way: advance to another Eastern Maine Class A final, but this time with rebounding and inside scoring.

Sure, defense was also a big key to Cony’s 52-40 win over conference rival Skowhegan at the Bangor Auditorium, but control of the boards was the biggest.

“We definitely tried to go in and then out on offense,” said Cony senior guard Lindsay Frye, one of the “out” girls and the leading scorer with 12 points. “We knew if we got inside and got all the boards, we’d come out on top.”

The Rams didn’t get all the boards, but they got most, especially offensively (9-3). Cony outrebounded the Indians 34-23 overall.

“I think we’re a little taller than Skowhegan and we’re going inside and make people play us there,” said coach Paul Vachon. “We know our outside game is there and right now, we’re really comfortable with what we’re doing. We didn’t shoot really well [38.6 percent], but hey, we made up for it on the boards.”

The 20-1 Rams meet Thursday night’s Nokomis-Hampden winner in the 7 p.m. Saturday title game.

Defensively, junior forward Ashley Underwood earned MVP honors by holding Indians star senior guard Tiffany Jones to six points.

“My shots weren’t going tonight, and we knew coming in defense would have the most impact so I just stuck with it,” said Underwood, who did manage to score 10 points. “She’s a great shooter, so you have to get a hand up and give her some space since she can penetrate too. I think it’s the best I’ve done against her.”

No Skowhegan player scored in double digits and only one scored more than six points (Ashley Hilton with nine) as the Indians shot 33 percent from the floor.

“We did everything we needed to do to win except shoot the ball well,” said Paul True, coach of the 19-2 Indians, who lost their third game in four meetings with Cony. “We were a little too impatient and didn’t look for better shots.”

Cony used an 11-0 run to break it open in a second quarter, when Cony outscored the Indians 13-2 for a 12-point halftime lead. The Rams never led by less than seven again.

Katie Rollins, Cony’s 6-foot-2 freshman center, had a 10-point, 10-rebound effort while 6-1 senior Jauna Andrews added eight points and 10 boards. Junior guard Karen Sirois had a solid, all-around game with eight points, eight assists, and five boards. Frye added six boards, three assists and two steals.

Jones also had eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block before fouling out with 1:59 to play.

RAMS 52, INDIANS 40

Skowhegan (19-2) Cony girls (20-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Gibson 0 0 0 0 0 Underwood 2 12 4 5 10

Albert 0 0 0 0 0 Purington 0 0

A. Berry 1 1 0 0 3 Frye 5 12 12

Brown 0 1 0 0 0 Hem 0 0 0

Sylvain 1 1 0 0 3 Piselli 0 0 0

Searles 2 9 0 0 5 Beaudoin 0 0

Ballard 1 3 0 0 3 Rollins 4 7 10

McDaniel 1 2 0 0 2 Allen 0 0 0

Davis 2 7 0 0 6 Dumont 2 4 4

Smith 0 0 0 0 0 Sirois 1 1 8

Hilton 3 6 3 3 9 Dulac 0 0 0

M. Berry 1 4 0 0 3 Andrews 4 7 8

Jones 2 8 2 2 6

Totals 14 42 5 5 40 Totals 18 44 12 18 52

Skowhegan 15 17 28 40

Cony 16 29 38 52

3-pt. goals: Skowhegan (7-17): A. Berry 1-1, Sylvain 1-1, Searles 1-6, Ballard 1-2, Davis 2-5, M. Berry 1-2, Jones 0-1; Cony (4-17): Underwood 2-9, Purington 0-1, Frye 1-5, Sirois 1-1