BANGOR – John Bapst girls basketball coach Mike Webb couldn’t have asked for much more from his Crusaders than what he got last week.

In a four-day span, Bapst knocked off previously undefeated Mount Desert Island, beat Hermon, and on Saturday picked up a huge 50-44 victory over defending Class B state champ Presque Isle, gaining a bit of revenge against a team it hadn’t beaten in the two years the Crusaders have been in Class B.

Presque Isle won the teams’ first matchup 50-45 on Dec. 9 and also beat the Crusaders in the Eastern Maine Class B final last season.

“I think our teamwork is coming together,” said Bapst senior forward Lauren Nichols, who had nine points. “We’re playing well together.”

Hilary Laferriere poured in a game-high 22 points and led all players with 13 rebounds Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium as the Crusaders improved to 9-1.

The big week came via defense, Webb said, and that was the case Saturday against the Wildcats, now 6-2.

Bapst opened the game in man-to-man defense, which Presque Isle’s Angela Norsworthy was able to exploit for 13 of her team-high 20 points in the first quarter.

Once the Crusaders went to a 2-3 zone, however, the Wildcats had trouble getting their offense in gear. Bapst had a 29-23 lead at halftime and were ahead 36-33 at the end of the third quarter.

“We had to make sure we knew where the shooters were,” Laferriere said of the switch to a zone. “I mainly had Norsworthy because she was playing around the paint, and then we’d double down if she got the ball.”

Not only did Bapst’s zone stop Norsworthy, but the defense also held sharpshooting guard-forward Sarah Porter to six points on 3-for-14 shooting.

“Norsworthy and Porter are their two main scorers,” Bapst junior guard Eve Jordan said. “We really focused in on them.”

Presque Isle kept it close, however, and took a 42-41 lead when Shaina Watananuchit hit a 3-pointer with about 3:30 left in the fourth.

But nothing seemed to work for the Wildcats after that. Amy Michaud drove inside to try for a game-tying layup with 1:50 left, but Laferriere blocked the shot. Norsworthy had a good look with 25 seconds left to try to tie it again, but the shot missed and Laferriere grabbed the rebound.

The Wildcats, down three points, were then called for a travel with 13 seconds left.

“I thought we lost our head at times and we showed some of our youth,” said PI coach Jeff Hudson, who has just two returning starters back from the state championship team. “We took the lead for a few seconds, then we turn around and commit a stupid foul, then it was one pass, one shot. You have to be patient, and we weren’t patient. We didn’t execute our offense like we can.”

The Crusaders made enough free throws in the final minute to seal the win.

The Wildcats didn’t have an answer for Laferriere, a 5-foot-11 junior center who went 10-for-13 from the floor.

“We have two of the better post players [Laferriere and Nichols] in the league and if we get our inside game going we’re very hard to match up with,” Webb said.

Norsworthy had 15 rebounds.

CRUSADERS 50, WILDCATS 44

Presque Isle (6-2) John Bapst (9-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Michaud 2 5 0 2 4 Jordan 2 7 8

Porter 3 14 0 1 6 Nichols 3 6 9

Clukey 0 1 1 2 1 Andrle 0 2 0

Buckley 0 0 0 0 0 Maquillan 1 4

Glovins 3 5 0 0 8 McGuan 1 1 5

Legassie 1 7 0 0 2 Gormley 1 2 2

Watanncht 1 2 0 0 3 Lafrriere 10 13 2 4 22

Dean 0 1 0 0 0

Norswrthy 7 15 6 11 20

Totals 17 50 7 16 44 Totals 18 32 12 24 50

Presque Isle 16 23 33 44

John Bapst 16 29 36 50

3-pt. goals – Presque Isle (3-7): Glovins 2-2, Watananuchit 1-2, Legassie 0-1, Porter 0-2; John Bapst (2-4): McGuan 1-1, Maquillan 1-1, Jordan 0-1, Andrle 0-1

JV: John Bapst 37-25

Attendance: 250 (est.)