Cochran leads Dragons to win Woodland vs. SAHS Saturday

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BANGOR – With her team’s lead down to just three points late in the fourth quarter, Woodland’s Courtney Cochran admitted some concern.

“We got kind of scared,” said Cochran, a 5-foot-11 sophomore forward, “but we played well when we needed to.”

And just well enough to advance, as the top-ranked Dragons held off No. 5 Greenville 47-40 on Tuesday night in an Eastern Maine Class D girls basketball semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

The win advances Woodland (18-1) to Saturday’s 9:05 a.m. regional final against 19-2 Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook. The second-seeded Warriors defeated No. 6 Greater Houlton Christian Academy 56-41.

Greenville finishes 16-3.

Cochran led Woodland with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while 5-10 senior Michelle Ferry added 11 points and seven boards.

Junior guard Hannah Breton scored 19 points for Greenville, while senior center Beth Bartley had 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Lakers stunned Woodland with a game-opening 12-2 run featuring back-to-back 3-pointers by senior guard Darla Larsen, but the Dragons countered by going inside to Cochran and Ferry to the tune of a 20-2 blitz good for a 22-14 lead midway through the second quarter.

Woodland seemingly was in control, particularly given some early success employing a box-and-one defense against Bartley, Greenville’s 1,000-point scorer.

But Greenville closed within 24-19 by the break, as Larsen made another 3-pointer and Bartley got free for a low-post basket.

Woodland moved back out to a lead of as much as 11 points at 30-19 on two Cochran free throws late in the third quarter.

But Greenville got a big second half from Breton, whose one-person transition game produced the Lakers’ last 17 points of the game. That was highlighted by a 6-0 Greenville run that pulled her team within 39-35 with 2:38 to play, as she twice stole the ball and went in for layups to go with another fast-break basket.

Ferry finally answered for Woodland with a low-post basket, but the Dragons struggled at the line down the stretch to help Greenville stay close.

Breton’s 25-foot 3-pointer with a minute left cut the gap to 41-38, but the Lakers came up empty on their next possession. Woodland then made 6 of 12 free throws in the final 44 seconds – twice capitalizing on intentional fouls called on Greenville – to secure the hard-fought win.

“All in all, it’s no fun to lose,” said Greenville coach Woodie Bartley, “but those are the games you want to be in, the tough games right down to the end. That’s where you want to be.”

DRAGONS 47, LAKERS 40

Greenville (16-3) Woodland (18-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Gilbert 0 2 0 0 0 Mitchell 0 0

Boucher 0 3 0 0 0 Clark 1 2 2

Larsen 3 13 0 0 9 Gillespie 2 4

Bartley 6 10 0 2 12 Ham 0 0 0

Gary 0 3 0 2 0 Torrey 2 4 4 8

Harris 0 0 0 0 0 Ferry 3 10 11

Breton 9 15 0 2 19 Nicholas 0 0

Cochran 7 16 6 11 20

Bergin 0 0 2 2

Murphy 0 1 0 0

Totals 18 46 0 6 40 Totals 15 36 17 29 47

Greenville 12 19 27 40

Woodland 10 24 35 47

3-pt. goals – Greenville (4-14): Larsen 3-10, Breton 1-2, Boucher 0-2; Woodland (0-0)