HOWLAND – What a week for the Penobscot Valley girls basketball team.

The Howlers went into Friday night’s game against Lee Academy riding a 3-0 record and coming off wins over two solid Eastern Maine Class C squads, as well as an upset victory over defending Class C state champ Dexter Monday.

The week ended with another win, possible the biggest yet of the early season.

Penobscot Valley held off a tough Lee team – one of the early favorites to win the Eastern Maine Class D title – and got 15 points apiece from seniors Kelsy Lavertu and Morgan Cyr en route to a 55-49 victory over the Pandas at George Sereyko Memorial Gymnasium.

In the moments after the game, no one could recall the last time 4-0 Penobscot Valley had beaten Lee, now 1-1.

“I guess it really doesn’t matter,” said PVHS coach Joe Cyr, who has been coaching in the program for 10 years. “We won tonight.”

It had been six years since the Howlers beat the Tigers, a win which may have provided the spark for Friday’s game.

“We knew [Lee was going to be] really tough and we wanted to have the same intensity we had against Dexter,” Lavertu said.

The Howlers also knew they wanted to try to slow down the speedy Pandas. PVHS played the entire game in a 2-3 zone against which Lee had trouble working its half-court offense, shooting 21-for-63 (4-for-22 from 3-point range) from the floor.

“We’re a zone team, but the 2-3 is new for us this year,” Morgan Cyr said. “It’s more intense and it’s working really well.”

Eventually, however, Lee used its quickness to climb back into the game in the third quarter.

Penobscot Valley held a 25-19 halftime lead, but Lee cranked up its full-court pressure to generate steals in the backcourt. The Pandas converted at least four PVHS turnovers and Lee’s Amanda Gifford scored 12 of her game-high 22 points in the third quarter.

Lee had a 32-30 lead with 3:49 left in the third but committed six team fouls in almost two minutes and couldn’t get back into a flow. The Howlers took a 38-36 lead at the end of the third quarter and went ahead 49-45 later in the fourth.

“We’re constantly talking, always communicating as a team,” Morgan Cyr said of overcoming Lee’s pressure. “We knew we had to get out of it. We were saying, don’t worry about it, keep playing.”

The Pandas tied it at 49-49 when Karin Bird scored off an Aarika Ritchie pass, but Lee picked up its 10th team foul with 3:13 left and didn’t score again. PVHS made six free throws in the closing minutes and got offensive rebounds from Lavertu, Mindy Dolley, and Kacey Plourde that allowed the Howlers to pull out the ball and kill time.

The late rebounds were huge, especially because Penobscot Valley didn’t rebound well early. Lee had a 46-28 edge on the boards, but PVHS led 11-7 in the fourth.

With only one substitute – Joe Cyr himself only used two off his bench – the Lee players may have been feeling the strain late.

“Near the end of the game we stood and watched, and one person would go for the rebound,” Lee coach Ron Weatherbee said. “We aren’t very deep, so therefore we have to condition ourselves a little bit. Hopefully, we’ll get to the point where we’re not tired at the end or we can develop another sub.”

Dolley added 14 points, going 4-for-7 from behind the 3-point line. Cyr was 4-for-11.

Bird had 14 rebounds and Ritchie had 11. Plourde and Lavertu each had six.

HOWLERS 55, PANDAS 49

Lee (1-1) Penobscot Val. (4-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Gifford 10 14 0 0 22 Bowers 0 0 0

Harris 3 8 0 0 7 Thurlow 0 3 0

Bird 3 17 1 3 7 McClosky 3 8 9

McLaughln 0 2 2 2 2 Cyr 4 12 15

Ritchie 4 16 0 1 9 Plourde 0 2 2

Houghton 1 6 0 0 2 Lavertu 7 10 15

Dolley 5 11 0 14

Totals 21 63 3 6 49 Totals 19 46 19 55

Lee 11 19 33 49

Penobscot Valley 9 25 38 55

3-pt. goals – Lee (4-22): Gifford 2-4, Harris 1-5, Ritchie 1-9, Bird 0-4; Penobscot Valley (8-19): Dolley 4-7, Cyr 4-11, Thurlow 0-1

JV: Lee 53-36

Attendance: 300 (est.)