BANGOR – A few days ago, star MDI point guard Bracey Barker gave her father a suggestion: Instead of the Trojans playing their regular zone defense, why not try some man-to-man for Saturday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class B final against Maranacook?

“She was telling me that even yesterday,” said MDI coach Burt Barker. “I probably should have listened to her, but I thought, we’ve got something that’s worked all year.”

After talking it over at halftime, the Trojans decided to throw in some man defense. That made a difference, as did some late free throws and clutch baskets by Jessica Norwood, Barker, and Shelley Gott, as MDI rallied past the Black Bears of Readfield, 40-37.

It was MDI’s third straight Eastern Maine championship.

MDI, now 20-1, will face Western Maine winner Greely of Cumberland Center in the state final at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Trojans play zone defenses almost exclusively, but with Maranacook up 19-18 at halftime and MDI struggling from the floor, they decided to make the switch. It not only helped on defense, but also on offense.

“We’re quick enough that we can and we wanted to put some pressure on [Maranacook guard] Toby Martin, who’s a really good penetrator,” Bracey Barker said. “We got some steals and frustrated her for a little bit.”

Barker had a big steal and fast-break basket with 2:55 left in the fourth quarter to make it 37-34. The Black Bears tied it again when Martin completed a conventional 3-point play, but Gott’s jumper with 2:02 left provided the winning margin.

“Bracey and Shelley gutted it out hard,” Burt Barker said.

Kara Horton had the primary defensive duties on Martin with Jenna Gordius and Leah Joy helping as MDI got into some foul trouble. Martin finished with 11 points on 4-for-13 shooting. She made one of four shots in the fourth, including a missed 3-point attempt with 1.2 seconds left.

“We were trying to make the rest of the team earn it instead of her,” Horton said. “She’s small, but she’s a good player.”

Norwood, who has been MDI’s top 3-point shooter this year, went 0-for-6 before finally hitting a shot that cut Maranacook’s lead to 34-33 with 4:49 left.

“I was praying for at least one of them to go in and I’m glad that one did,” Norwood said. “Missing all those shots really slowed us down. Those last couple of shots we made sealed it.”

It wasn’t only Norwood who struggled – the Trojans went 13-for-42 as a team.

Maranacook played a diamond-and-1 defense with Kim Denbow, Sharon Bean, and Jackie Mrazik taking turns guarding Barker. The Bears held her to two free throws in the first half and 3-for-11 shooting from the floor.

“We knew we couldn’t stop her, but we felt we wanted to make it as difficult as possible for her,” Maranacook coach Mike Packard said. “She’s a great player and she did some damage. But we had to close out their shooters and I think we really did.”

Barker’s 14 points and Gott’s 10 paced MDI while the 17-4 Black Bears received 11 from Bean as well as from Martin.

The Trojans got out to a quick 7-1 lead in the first period and led 12-9 in the second before the Bears went on an 8-0 run. Amanda Young answered for MDI with a 3-pointer to tie it but Maranacook was ahead at the half despite a buzzer-beating Horton 3-pointer.

TROJANS 40, BLACK BEARS 37

Maranacook (17-4) MDI (20-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Martin 4 13 2 3 11 Gordius 0 3 1

Mace 1 1 0 0 2 Joy 2 2 0 4

Denbow 0 0 0 0 0 Horton 2 4 5

Pullen 0 0 0 0 0 Gott 4 11 10

Bardaglio 0 0 0 0 0 Barker 3 11 10 14

Edwards 2 4 0 1 6 Young 1 4 3

Bean 2 6 5 7 11 Norwood 1 7 0 3

Brennan 3 8 1 2 7

Mrazik 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 12 32 8 13 37 13 42 10 16 40

Maranacook 3 19 29 37

MDI 7 18 28 40

3-pt. goals: Maranacook (5-7): Edwards 2-2, Bean 2-2, Martin 1-3; MDI (4-20): Horton 1-2, Young 1-2, Gott 1-7, Norwood 1-7, Barker 0-2