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BANGOR – It could have been a nightmare. But luckily, the Cony of Augusta girls basketball team was completely prepared for the situation. It was, after all, four years in the making.
That’s why, when Cony star forward Katie Rollins got into foul trouble in the first quarter of Saturday’s Class A state championship game, the Rams didn’t fold. Instead, stunningly, they gelled.
Rollins would re-enter the game, score 12 of her 24 points in the third quarter, and provide the senior leadership for young players such as Cassie Cooper and Rachael Mack to lift the Rams to a 58-40 victory over McAuley of Portland.
“Kids just stepped up. They all stepped up. They weren’t going to let it go,” said 20-year coach Paul Vachon, who guided the program to its sixth state title. “… [Rollins] came back and proved in the second half that she’s the best player in the state, period.”
It seemed fitting that Cony -the most successful program in Eastern Maine Class A with nine regional titles – won Saturday’s game. It was the last Class A state final that will be contested at the Bangor Auditorium as the Eastern Maine Class A tourney moves to the Augusta Civic Center next year.
The win also ended seven seasons of frustration for the Rams, who had gone 0-2 in state games in that span. Instead, the Rams ended the 2004-05 season with a 22-0 record and their first gold ball since 1998.
“It was definitely a sense of determination,” said Rollins, a Miss Basketball finalist who will play for Harvard next year and is one of eight Cony seniors. “I think we played to a whole other level this tournament. It wasn’t just going out and playing basketball. It was playing with our hearts, with our minds, for the school, for the alumni that never got a chance to win, for coach Vachon.”
McAuley, which was 20-1 coming into the game, was trying for its first state title since the Lions won back-to-back crowns in 2002 – a 50-39 win over Cony – and 2003.
The Rams were vulnerable with Rollins on the bench, but after starting with an 8-3 lead, Cony went on a 14-2 run spanning 6 minutes, 23 seconds that took McAuley out of the game.
After McAuley forward Ashley Cimino made the two free throws that were the result of Rollins’ second foul, the Rams scored 14 unanswered points – Cooper had eight points in the run – for a 22-5 lead. McAuley’s Caroline Freeman hit a 3-pointer to end the run, but Cony took a 16-point lead with 3:49 left in the half and an 11-point lead into the locker room.
Just how were the Rams able to shut down the Lions for so long? One big key was actually Rollins’ trip to the bench. With her out, freshman forward Mack entered the game and Vachon had sophomore forward Cooper slide over to guard Cimino. The McAuley forward had hit a 3-pointer minutes earlier.
Cooper shut down Cimino, who finished with a team-best 17 points but never got into a rhythm on offense.
“Cassie did a great job on Cimino,” Vachon said. “In the beginning of the year, I didn’t know if Cassie could play defense. Well, she certainly showed me tonight she can.”
Cooper said during practice last week the team had talked about foul trouble, and that meant shifting around the defensive assignments.
“Ashley’s more of a perimeter player and Katie’s more of an inside player,” said Cooper, who plays AAU basketball with Cimino. “[Rollins] can go outside, but it’s just more comfortable for me to [guard] that kind of player. So when she had to sit, I just did what I had to do and guard Ashley.”
Mack shut down Western Maine tournament MVP Tara Beaulieu, who had five points after averaging 16 in the regional tourney.
Cooper scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half to make up for Rollins’ missing offense and help the Rams take a 28-17 halftime lead. When Cooper picked up her third foul early in the third quarter, Rollins took over. She scored all but three of Cony’s 15 points in that period.
The Lions were plagued by turnovers, which made it hard for them to mount a run and get back into the game. McAuley had 14 in the first half and 21 overall.
“We didn’t take care of the ball and we didn’t rebound, and those were the things that really did us in,” Lions coach Liz Rickett said. “And they made their shots. Rollins came on in third quarter and made some tough shots.”
Cony outrebounded McAuley 35-23. Cooper and Mack led the Rams with seven rebounds apiece. Cony point guard Briiana Rende had five rebounds and five steals, while Natalie Nimon added five rebounds and four assists.
Cimino had seven rebounds and four blocks.
RAMS 58, LIONS 40
McAuley (20-2) Cony (22-0)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Oliver 0 0 0 0 0 Mason 0 4 4
Leighton 0 5 0 0 0 B. Rende 0 4
Powers 1 5 0 0 2 Tyler 0 0 0
LaFond 0 3 0 2 0 Albert 0 0 0
Hughes 0 0 0 2 0 Doak 0 0 0
Wood 2 2 0 0 4 Nimon 3 9 0 8
Ebrahim 2 3 0 0 4 Cooper 5 8 15
Freeman 2 7 0 0 6 Cloutier 0 0
Beaulieu 2 7 1 2 5 Mack 1 5 3
Cimino 6 10 4 4 17 Henderson 0 0
Bernard 0 1 0 1 0 Pelkey 0 0 0
McAleney 1 2 0 0 2 Rollins 11 14 24
Totals 16 45 5 11 40 Totals 20 46 16 24 58
McAuley 5 17 23 40
Cony 15 28 43 58
3-pt. goals – McAuley (3-11): Freeman 2-5, Cimino 1-2, Powers 0-1, Ebrahim 0-1, LaFond 0-2; Cony (2-8): Nimon 2-6, Mason 0-1, Henderson 0-1
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