PORTLAND – The Sanford girls basketball program had never experienced a state championship game before Saturday night, let alone thrived in such a pressure-packed environment.

It didn’t matter.

The Redskins took a quick early lead and withstood a second-half challenge by Cony of Augusta to defeat the defending state champs 47-41 in the Class A final at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Miss Basketball finalist Kayla Parker, a 6-foot senior, paced Sanford with 15 points and eight rebounds – scoring nine points in the first quarter as 21-1 Sanford took a 16-7 lead.

Junior forward Beth Fredette added eight points and seven rebounds for the Redskins, while junior guard Coleen Kumka had five assists.

“In this tournament, they all just believed in themselves,” said Sanford coach Kristy Parent. “Even after they won the [Western Maine] final and got into this game, they looked at Cony and said they could beat them, too.”

Junior forward Cassie Cooper led 21-1 Cony with 17 points – including the 1,000th of her career – and seven rebounds. Frontcourt mate Rachael Mack added 10 points, eight in the second half.

Cony also got important minutes from junior forward Kristi Violette. Violette, who was in a diabetic coma less than two weeks ago, came off the bench to contribute five points and two rebounds.

“I thought Kristi did a great job, and I’m so proud of her,” said Cony coach Paul Vachon. “I didn’t know how much she could go. In practices she’d been very, very weak, but I think she showed what kind of gutsy kid she is, and she gave us some outstanding minutes.”

Sanford had the height in Parker, 5-11 Ruth Briggs and the 5-8 Fredette to challenge the 6-1 Cooper and 6-2 Mack, so the Redskins went inside.

After Cooper hit a 3-pointer to give Cony its only lead at 3-0 and Biddeford’s Ashley Jean tied the game with a 3-pointer, the Redskins’ frontcourt trio shot 6 for 9 for the rest of the first period against the Rams’ 2-1-2 and man-to-man sets.

Biddeford led by as much as 11 four times in the half, including 28-17 at the break.

“We just came out firing,” said Parent. “I don’t think there’s been a first half when we’ve had that many points all season.”

Cony turned to fullcourt pressure after intermission, and the switch paid off.

After Kumka hit a 3-pointer to extend Biddeford’s lead to 31-17, Cony forced four Redskin turnovers in five possessions and scored 10 straight points to pull within 31-27 on a Mack follow-up shot with 3:07 left in the third quarter.

But Cony went scoreless for the rest of the period, and Fredette scored off a Parker lob and then Parker scored with 5 seconds left to give Sanford a 35-27 lead.

“They were making a run, and we were kind of shook up by their pressure,” said Parent, “but we broke their press and were able to run the clock down and score some points, and that definitely gave us momentum going into the fourth.”

Cony threatened over the final eight minutes, but never got closer than 43-38 on two Cooper free throws with 2:04 left.

REDSKINS 47, RAMS 41

Cony (21-1) Sanford (21-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

White 1 5 0 0 3 Kl. Plante 2 4

Rende 2 13 0 2 4 A. Jean 1 3 5

Cooper 6 13 4 7 17 Kumka 1 5 5

Arbour 0 1 0 0 0 Fredette 4 8

Mack 4 7 2 3 10 Kn.Plante 2 3 6

H. Pratt 0 0 0 0 0 Parker 7 17 15

Pelkey 1 4 0 0 2 Briggs 2 2 4

Violette 2 8 1 3 5 Winsor 0 0 0

Totals 16 51 7 15 41 Totals 19 40 10 47

Cony 7 17 27 41

Sanford 16 28 35 47

3-pt. goals – Cony (2-11): White 1-2, Cooper 1-3, Arbour 0-1, Rende 0-5; Sanford (2-9): A. Jean 1-2, Kumka 1-5, Kayla Plante 0-1, Karyn Plante 0-1

Attendance: 2,756