BANGOR – After finishing last season as the Western Maine Class D runner-up, the Waynflete girls basketball team knew it had to work on its defense for the 2002-03 season.

The Flyers did just that, and entered this year’s regional tournament with a 17-1 record.

Waynflete’s matchup defense, a mix of zone and man-to-man, worked for another win in Thursday night’s Class D state championship game at the Bangor Auditorium. The Flyers didn’t let two-time defending state champion Woodland get into any kind of offensive rhythm, and had a big rebounding advantage thanks to 6-foot-2 center Indira Gowell and 6-1 forward Khalilah Ummah, as the Portland school earned its first state crown with a 39-36 victory.

“We knew last year that our defense was our weakness and that’s what we had to work on,” senior Gowell said. “That’s the thing we’ve been doing since the start of the season.”

The Flyers are the first Western Maine school to win the state title since Forest Hills of Jackman in 1997. It’s just the sixth time a WM team has won the state game and Waynflete is just the fourth team to do it.

Gowell led the 21-1 Flyers with 12 points and 14 rebounds. She had the key play of the game with 3:03 remaining in the fourth when she scored off one of her six offensive rebounds and drew a foul. Gowell made the free throw to give the Flyers a 34-31 lead.

Woodland’s Katie Smith scored on a baseline drive to cut the deficit to one point, but Waynflete senior Susannah Hamblin knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining. Hamblin, who finished with 12 points, made two free throws in the final 1:18 to ice the win.

There were seven ties and 13 lead changes in the game. Woodland was ahead 16-15 at halftime.

Ummah contributed 12 rebounds and 5-9 guard-forward Noelle Surette had eight. Overall the Flyers had a 47-24 rebounding edge and tallied 20 offensive boards.

“We knew if they got the ball inside they certainly had an advantage,” Woodland coach Arnold Clark said. “They did an excellent job rebounding. We didn’t bring our ‘A’ game tonight and that’s just the way it happens. These kids came in and played well and I give them all the credit.”

The Flyers held Woodland stars Kaitlyn Leeman and Smith to a combined 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting. Leeman, who despite her 5-2 size likes to drive inside on taller players, was called for several travels and had trouble getting her shots to go against Gowell, Ummah and 6-foot backup center Desiree Lester.

And the Dragons were 2-for-9 from 3-point range.

“We just couldn’t generate any offense,” Clark said. “We didn’t shoot the ball that well.”

The 5-9 Smith picked up her third foul with 2:46 left in the first half and eventually fouled out. Senior Kati Holmes had five points and three rebounds in Smith’s place.

The Dragons did keep Western Maine tourney MVP Surette from doing any damage, holding her to five points. She was 2-for-15 from the floor, although she had two baskets in the fourth quarter.

Erika Brown led the 16-6 Dragons with eight points. Smith had seven and Leeman had six to go with six assists and six rebounds.

The Flyers struggled from the line early, going 1-for-9 in the first quarter. They also had some trouble handling the ball against Woodland’s press and turned the ball over 16 times to 10 for the Dragons.

“We had some nerves early,” said Gowell, who was 1-for-5 in the period. “We heard the Bangor Auditorium was a big place, but we didn’t think it was this big.”

FLYERS 39, DRAGONS 36

Waynflete (21-1) Woodland (16-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hamblin 4 10 2 3 12 Brown 3 7 8

Stockmeyer 0 0 0 0 0 Leeman 2 12 6

Dubuque 1 4 0 2 2 Ferry 1 4 2

Lester 1 1 0 0 2 Lord 2 7 4

Fournier 0 1 0 0 0 Smith 3 7 7

Ummah 3 8 0 3 6 Holmes 2 4 5

Gowell 5 10 2 7 12 Troiani 2 5 4

Surette 2 15 1 2 5 Seavey 0 2 0

Totals 16 49 5 17 39 15 48 36

Waynflete 7 15 23 39

Woodland 7 16 25 36

3-pt. goals ? Waynflete (2-7): Hamblin 2-4, Surette 0-3; Woodland (2-9): Brown 2-6, Leeman 0-1, Ferry 0-1, Seavey 0-1