Deep Lions will be a formidable test for Cony

As Paul Vachon watched a videotape of the McAuley girls basketball team, one thing stood out to him – this was not the same McAuley team that Vachon’s Cony girls last faced three years ago.

For several years, the Lions of Portland had a collection of forwards and centers that dominated play with tons of help from a standout point guard named Sarah Marshall.

McAuley still has some height but this season, Vachon noted, the Lions are more guard-oriented and therefore more balanced than in the past.

Vachon’s Rams are looking forward to the challenge, he said, as they play in their third state championship game in four years, including a loss to Deering of Portland last season.

Eastern Maine champ Cony of Augusta will face Western Maine winner McAuley of Portland for the gold ball Saturday with tipoff time set for 7:05 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.

The game will be a rematch of the 2002 state championship final in which the Lions beat the Rams 67-61.

Cony last won a state title in 1998.

Although McAuley still has height – 6-foot-2 sophomore Ashley Cimino averaged 14.3 points in three Western Maine Class A tournament games and 5-9 senior forward Tara Beaulieu was named the tourney MVP for her 16 ppg – the Lions are more perimeter-oriented this year.

“They’re much, much different,” Vachon said. “They were very tall inside. It’s a much different team. They’re not as tall but what I gathered was that they were very well-balanced and very deep.”

McAuley is quite a bit younger this season.

Shannon Wood, a freshman point guard, starts for the Lions. Other guards in the rotation include seniors Courtney Powers and Kelly Ebrahim, the only remaining McAuley player who saw action in the 2002 state final. She and Beaulieu are the lone remaining players who got on the Auditorium floor in 2003, when McAuley beat Nokomis of Newport.

Wood led the Southern Maine Activities Association with 3.7 assists per game. Wood, Freeman and Ebrahim are all 3-point threats.

Beaulieu, who scored just 8 ppg in the regular season, will likely be guarded by Cony’s 6-1 sophomore forward Cassie Cooper. Rams senior point guard Briiana Rende will take Wood and Eastern Maine tourney MVP Katie Rollins, a 6-2 senior forward, will guard Cimino. That leaves Cony guard Amanda Mason and forward Natalie Nimon for Powers, Ebrahim, and 5-10 forward Carolyn Freeman.

“We’re just going to play our basic man-to-man defense, get the ball inside and out, play that game, and whatever comes about comes about,” Vachon said.

McAuley, which went 17-1 in the regular season with just one loss to South Portland, got to the state final with a 49-42 quarterfinal victory over No. 7 Portland, a 52-40 win over No. 3 Noble of North Berwick in the semis, and a 45-29 defeat of No. 4 Sanford in the regional final.

It was the sixth straight Western Maine finals appearance for McAuley, which is 2-2 in state championship appearances in the seven years Liz Rickett has been coaching the Lions.

McAuley was No. 2 in the standings and didn’t have to face No. 1 South Portland in the WM final because the Red Riots, who were 18-0 going into the tournament, lost in the semifinals.