For one night last February, the Valley girls basketball team was on a huge high after knocking off No. 1 Rangeley in the Western Maine tournament.

A few nights later, however, the Cavaliers were out of the tourney themselves.

It’s a lesson Gordon Hartwell’s club will take into the rapidly approaching 2006 postseason.

“It helped us realize a little about what it takes,” Hartwell said of the 39-27 regional final loss to Hyde of Bath last year. “You can’t have an off night in the tournament.”

The Valley girls are hoping that lesson, in addition to improved all-around play, will pay off this year as the Cavaliers will likely take an undefeated record and the top seed into the Western Maine tourney. They had a lead of 29.93 Tournament Index points over No. 2 Kents Hill in the most recent Heal Point standings.

Valley, now 16-0, faces Rangeley tonight and wraps up the regular season against Averill of Hinckley Thursday.

The Cavaliers’ leading scorer is tenacious sharpshooter Kristin Baker. The senior guard, who will walk on at the University of Maine next fall, is averaging about 24 points per game.

Baker, a Bangor Daily News All-Maine third-teamer, scored 36 points in Valley’s 58-47 upset win over the Lakers in the 2005 Western Maine semifinals. The Cavaliers were seeded fifth and Rangeley was undefeated.

But the key to Valley’s success this year has been the supporting cast, including starters Jeri Fitzmaurice, Taylor Plourd, Morgan Staples and Sandra Porter. Baker, who is one of three part-time point guards, is also averaging about five assists per game.

“That’s been a big difference for us this year,” Hartwell said. “We’ve had contributions from them in every game.”

The 5-foot-11 Fitzmaurice is averaging about 14 points per game consistently, Hartwell added, which takes a lot of pressure off Baker. Plourd adds about 6-7 ppg and eight rebounds per game.

Staples and Plourd have both shot well in Valley’s last 7-8 games, Hartwell said.

Porter, a 5-11 forward who has only been playing basketball for two years since moving to Maine from Oklahoma, has had at least 11 rebounds in each of Valley’s last eight games.

“Every game you can see she’s just getting better and better,” Hartwell said. “She’s a tremendous defender.”

The Cavaliers have also had a lot of help off the bench from forward Candy Ebneter and guards Katelyn Atwood and Heather Johnson.

Valley’s balanced scoring was evident in a Dec. 20 game against Greenville, which is one of the toughest teams the Cavaliers faced. In a 63-45 win, Fitzmaurice had 23 points and 23 rebounds, Baker scored 26 points and had eight assists, and Plourd recorded 10 rebounds.

So just how have teams tried to stop Valley? You name a defense, Hartwell said, and the Cavaliers have seen it.

“[A] 1-3-1 [zone], box-and-1, triangle-and-2; all we’ve seen have been junk defense,” he said. “Other teams seem to think that they’re trying something we haven’t seen, but we’re used to it all. We’d actually rather have a team try those things because they go away from what they’re used to playing.”

Hartwell has had a chance to see some of the top Eastern Maine Class D teams, and likes Lee Academy and Woodland to emerge. It will come down to Lee’s quick starters against Woodland’s height, he predicted.

“It’s going to be a dogfight over there,” Hartwell said.

New England swimming set

Maine’s top high school swimmers will be able to attend New England Championships this year.

The Council of New England Secondary Schools’ Principals Associations, which runs the regional championships, voted in November to add swimming to a series of championships that includes cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field, wrestling, tennis, golf, and gymnastics. Cheerleading was also added.

The meet will be held March 11 at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. It will start at 12:30 p.m.

The Maine Principals’ Association swim committee decided to send the first-place finisher from each event in both Classes A and B, and then the next three fastest times when the results from the two classes are combined. The fourth fastest time will be the alternate.

For the relay events, the fastest team in Class A and Class B and the next fastest team from the two classes combined. The second-fastest team from the combined results will be the alternate.

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.