BANGOR – It didn’t go to senior star Alexa Kaubris. It didn’t wind up with hot-shooting Brooke Weston or inside power Michelle Holmquist.

Instead, sophomore forward Shannon Daley, who had come off the bench earlier in the game, got the ball for the most important score of the season for the Dirigo girls basketball team.

Daley’s baseline shot with less than two seconds left lifted the Cougars to a 44-42 victory over Dexter in the Class C state championship game Friday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

The win was the eighth state title for Dirigo of Dixfield and first since 2003, when the Cougars won the first state championship meeting between the two teams. Dexter took last year’s state final.

Both teams were undefeated coming into the game, which means Dirigo wraps up at 22-0 and Dexter finishes at 21-1 – one game short of its second straight undefeated season and its first loss since 6-foot-6 sophomore center Mallory Ames joined her sister, 6-4 senior forward Ashley Ames, on the team.

Dirigo coach Gavin Kane set up the winning play during the last of three straight timeouts with 18.6 seconds left.

“We were looking for a backscreen and a possible lob to Alexa Kaubris,” Kane said. “Michelle Holmquist, who really had a tough night for us, just made a little bit of a penetration move here and got it to Shannon Daley. Michelle was actually the third option but I was hoping when she saw that opening she might take the shot. … She made a wonderful decision on that last play of the ballgame.”

Mallory Ames had tied the game at 42-42 when she put in a lob pass from Meagan Fogarty, the Tigers’ regular sixth-man who got her first start of the season Friday, with 1:17 left in the fourth.

The Cougars pulled the ball out to whittle time off the clock.

Three timeouts later, the Cougars had their chance. Holmquist inbounded the ball to Kaubris, Dirigo passed it around to Weston, who got it to Holmquist on the right side.

“Brooke passed me the ball so I drove in and I saw Shannon, and I just dished in and hoped she would make it in, and she did,” Holmquist said through tears. “I’m just really happy right now.”

Dexter coach Jody Grant said he was thinking what Kane was – that Kaubris would get the ball. After all, the 5-8 forward hit the game-tying basket in overtime two years ago.

“I expected Kaubris to get the ball and try to clear out and take her player to the basket,” Grant said. “Tough way to lose. Tough way to lose.”

There were 10 lead changes and four ties in the second half. Dexter’s last lead of the game came early in the fourth when Nikki Chapman put back an offensive rebound for a 38-35 advantage. Kaubris scored on a Weston pass to cut the lead to one and Weston hit a 3-pointer to take a 40-38 lead.

The two teams battled back and forth early, tying at the end of the first quarter when Ashley Ames hit a jumper from the free-throw line at the buzzer. Dirigo had a 22-20 lead at halftime after coming back from a four-point deficit. Weston had a 3-pointer in that rally and went 4-for-5 from 3-point range in the game.

So just how did the smaller Cougars beat the tall Tigers? They trapped in the open court and packed it in inside, often double-teaming both Ames sisters. Although that left players like Sabrina Cote (eight points) open, the defense limited Dexter from pushing the ball inside.

Ashley Ames did have a stellar effort with 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks.

“We’ve seen it before, it’s nothing new,” Grant said. “We were real patient but we didn’t make enough plays to win. I couldn’t have asked anything more from this group of kids.”

Holmquist, a 5-9 forward, scored 11 points and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

“We just had to keep our hands up and try to [keep] them from getting the ball,” Holmquist said. “That’s all we [practiced] the whole week.”

COUGARS 44, TIGERS 42

Dirigo (22-0) Dexter (21-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hutchinson 0 0 0 0 0 M. Ames 2 8 5

Weston 4 5 1 2 13 Chapman 2 2 6

Child 0 0 0 0 0 N. Burton 0 1

Holmquist 5 9 0 2 11 Fogarty 1 6 2

Knight 2 4 1 2 6 Cote 3 5 8

Kaubris 3 14 2 2 8 Hartford 0 0

Gagne 1 1 0 0 2 A. Ames 8 16 20

Daley 2 8 0 2 4

Totals 17 41 4 10 44 16 37 10 14 42

Dirigo 13 22 35 44

Dexter 13 20 36 42

3-pt. goals – Dirigo (6-9): Weston 4-5, Holmquist 1-2, Knight 1-1; Dexter: none