Maranacook tall order

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BANGOR – Senior point guard Toby Martin is the face of the Maranacook of Readfield girls basketball team.

But it was frontcourt dominance that sparked the No. 2 Black Bears to a 56-43 victory over No. 7 Camden Hills of Rockport in an Eastern Maine Class B quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium on Friday afternoon.

Six-foot sophomore center Kristi Violette had 17 points and 13 rebounds as Maranacook took the lead late in the first quarter and held off several Camden Hills rallies – the last one pulling the Windjammers within 42-39 with 6:18 left in the game.

Shannon Bean, a 5-10 junior, and 5-11 junior Jackie Mrazik complemented Violette’s inside work, combining for 16 points and eight rebounds.

“In the past when Toby didn’t score a boatload of points, we just plain lost,” said Maranacook coach Mike Packard, whose club had a 36-20 rebounding edge. “Today we got contributions from everybody who played.”

Martin, held to one first half field goal, finished with 10 points and played a key role as the Black Bears controlled play in the late stages of the game.

“I knew my shooting wasn’t on but my teammates were playing well so I just needed to distribute the ball and then get back on defense and play my game defensively,” said Martin, a first-team NEWS All-Maine choice last winter and the reigning Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B player of the year. “I just needed to do other things.”

Maranacook (18-1) will play No. 3 Winslow (16-3) in a 2:05 p.m. semifinal Wednesday. Camden Hills, which won the EM title as the No. 8 seed last year, finishes 15-5.

The Windjammers made four of their first six shots to take an 8-2 lead, but finished the game shooting just 34 percent (18 of 51) overall while making none of their 11 3-point attempts.

“We just never got their defense moving to create the space for drives, for 3-point shots, or for one-on-one opportunities in the post,” said Camden Hills coach Jay Carlsen.

Junior guard Kristen Richards led Camden Hills with 14 points.

Violette’s inside play sparked a 20-4 Maranacook run good for a 22-12 lead midway through the second period.

Camden Hills scored four points in the final three seconds of the half to pull within 28-22, as Samantha Wiley fed Richards for a layup and then scored at the buzzer after stealing an inbounds pass.

Twice Camden Hills pulled within three, at 40-37 on a Carly Holgerson jumper late in the third quarter and 42-39 on a Marianne Croce drive early in the fourth.

Maranacook then went on an 11-2 run, with Martin scoring five points and Jenika Kelley adding two field goals as the Black Bears took a 53-41 lead with 1:43 left.

BLACK BEARS 56, WINDJAMMERS 43

Camden Hills (15-5) Maranacook (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Wiley 4 11 0 0 8 Martin 3 10 10

Brown 1 1 1 1 3 Violette 7 15 3 4 17

Newcomb 0 0 0 0 0 Pullen 1 1 2

Butler 0 0 0 0 0 Mrazik 3 4 7

Carleton 1 1 0 0 2 Bean 3 9 9

Parent 0 1 0 0 0 Mason 2 2 4

Smith 0 4 0 0 0 Kelley 3 5 7

Philoon 2 5 4 4 8

Gushee 1 6 0 0 2

Richards 6 12 2 2 14

Holgerson 1 1 0 0 2

Croce 2 9 0 0 4

Totals 18 51 7 7 43 Totals 22 46 11 20 56

Camden Hills 8 22 37 43

Maranacook 11 28 40 56

3-pt. goals – Camden Hills (0-11): Parent 0-1, Smith 0-1, Gushee 0-2, Richards 0-2, Croce 0-2, Wiley 0-3; Maranacook (1-6): Martin 1-4, Bean 0-2;