Allen 3-pointer lifts A-B West past East in OT Baker shines for C-D West team

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BANGOR – Before the high school girls basketball season ended Saturday, Samantha Allen decided the season would not be complete without one more exciting finish.

The Lake Region of Naples star nailed a 25-foot 3-pointer as time expired in regulation to send the Classes A-B game to overtime, where the West All-Stars eventually prevailed 74-70 over the East at Husson College’s Newman Gymnasium Saturday morning.

The C-D West team completed the sweep with a 73-53 triumph in the second game.

In the A-B game, neither team was able to pull away in regulation and both squads put on an excellent shooting display.

“It was really fun to play with other players from different teams that we played against all year,” Old Town guard Katie Bergeron said.

With 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Rockland’s Caitlin Hynes missed the front end of a 1-and-1, then Allen raced down the floor and completed a 21-10 run for the West, which trailed by as many as 11 in the second half.

“It was a nice shot on her part,” Bergeron said of Allen’s heave, which banked off the glass and fell as the buzzer sounded.

The West then held the East without a field goal in overtime. Noble of Berwick’s Molly Coffin and Ruthie Briggs from Sanford combining for all six of the West’s points in the extra period.

Four players scored in double figures for the West. Miss Maine Basketball winner Kayla Parker from Sanford was the high scorer with 17 points. Allen finished with 11 while Kristen Arsenault of Mountain Valley in Rumford and Deering of Portland’s Ra’shema Murphy added 10 apiece, respectively.

Cony of Augusta’s Maggie Rende hit 4-of-6 from 3-point land en route to a team-high 17 points for the East. Skowhegan’s Nicole Paradis finished with 12 and Hynes with 10. Presque Isle standouts Kylan Smith and Katie Delong chipped in with eight and seven apiece.

“I think they couldn’t have done a better job picking those teams,” Dexter’s Sabrina Cote said of the mix of talent showcased in both games. “Everybody got to take a few shots, we shared the ball pretty well. Overall, it was just a good day.”

In second game, UMaine-bound Kristin Baker of Valley High in Bingham gave Black Bear fans something to look forward to, scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor. Baker plans to walk on at UM next year.

“She’s a fun player to watch. She really is,” said Dexter coach Jody Grant, who co-coached the East squad with Lee Academy’s Ron Weatherbee. “She’s very, very skilled, she shoots the ball real well.”

Cote added that Baker will be a good player at the Division I level.

“She’s definitely got good ballhandling skills and she’s a great shooter,” Cote said. “I think she’ll go a long way.”

Overall, the West squad’s height was too much for the East to handle.

“They had a lot of size on us. They beat us up and down the court a few times and [got some] fast break layups,” Cote said. “But overall, it was just fun. We had a good time.”

Grant not only enjoyed working with the talented corps of players on the East roster, but also getting a chance to coach Cote one last time.

“She’s an absolute pleasure to coach. She works tremendously hard, she had a wonderful senior season,” he said. “I’m just glad I had the opportunity to coach her one last time here this morning.”

Cote added that Grant is “a really good coach, and we actually will work together at a basketball camp this summer, so we’ll kinda be informally coaching together and stuff, so it’ll be fun.”

The West squad led by as many as 24 in the second half, but the East chipped away midway through the half. Two free throws by Stearns of Millinocket’s Hilary Arsenault brought the East to within eight at 55-43 with 6:42 left, but the shooting of Baker and the inside play of 5-foot-10 inch Hall-Dale of Farmington forward Caitlyn Laflin, who finished with a team-high 17 points, was too much to overcome.

Taryn Flagg of Livermore Falls finished with 13 for the West while Danielle Sewell of Houlton led a balanced East scoring attack with 12 points. Schenck of East Millinocket’s Robin Larlee had 11, Cote nine and Arsenault eight.

A-B WEST 74, A-B EAST 70 (OT)

East West

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bergeron 2 12 1 2 6 Allen 4 15 11

Delong 3 7 0 0 7 Arsenault 3 12 3 6 10

Dixon 2 5 0 0 4 Briggs 0 8 2

Hynes 4 15 2 3 10 Coffin 4 6 8

Paradis 5 12 0 0 12 Freeman 0 4 1

Rende 6 16 1 2 17 Graffam 2 9 5

Sanderson 1 7 4 7 6 Haeuser 2 6 4

Smith 4 5 0 0 8 Murphy 3 8 10

Parker 7 15 3 17

Shaw 3 8 0 6

Totals 27 79 8 14 70 Totals 28 91 15 29 74

East 42 68 70

West 35 68 74

3-pt. goals – East (8-26): Rende 4-9, Paradis 2-8, Delong 1-2, Bergeron 1-5, Smith 0-1, Hynes 0-1; West (3-9): Allen 1-4, Arsenault 1-2, Murphy 1-2, Freeman 0-1

C-D WEST 73, C-D EAST 53

East West

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Arsenault 2 7 2 2 8 Baker 6 9 16

Bartley 1 6 0 0 2 Crupi 3 7 6

Charette 2 7 2 2 6 Dionne 3 9 6

Cote 4 8 1 2 9 Flagg 6 10 0 13

Ferry 0 7 1 2 1 Holmquist 2 5

Larlee 5 10 1 2 11 Kimball 0 2 0

Nemer 0 1 0 0 0 E. Knight 3 10 0 0 6

Sewell 4 14 4 4 12 Laflin 7 12 17

Underhill 0 2 2 4 2 H. Knight 0 0

Violette 1 6 0 1 2 Stinchfield 2 4

Totals 19 68 13 19 53 Totals 32 79 73

East 24 53

West 40 73

3-pt. goals – East (2-12): Arsenault 2-6, Cote 0-1, Ferry 0-1, Sewell 0-2, Underhill 0-1, Nemer 0-1; West (3-5): Baker 2-3, Flagg 1-1, Crupi 0-1