Bapst coach: Win came despite bad plan

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BANGOR – Go ahead. Blame Mike Webb.

Webb, who coaches the No. 2 John Bapst of Bangor girls basketball team, decided to make a few changes to his starting lineup for Wednesday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class B semifinal against No. 5 Mount Desert Island.

The thought, he said after the Crusaders held on for a 40-39 victory, was to start a lineup of four players taller than 5-foot-9 in hopes of winning the opening tip to generate momentum, then go to a 2-3 zone.

It didn’t go as planned. MDI’s Susan Falt won the opening tip and Kelsey Stratton made two straight 3-pointers against the Crusaders’ zone.

“It backfired,” Webb said. “It’s a good thing these girls pulled me out of a hole tonight, because I spotted them six points. MDI had to make the shots, but our game plan – my game plan – backfired in the beginning.”

Instead of his regular lineup, which includes 5-6 guard Eve Jordan and 5-7 guard Christina Andrle, Webb sent 6-foot center Samantha Gormley and 5-9 guard-forward Erin McGuan to the floor. Gormley faced off against Falt for the tip, which Falt won and tapped over to MDI’s Lindsey Lewis.

Stratton launched a 3-pointer from the left side 11 seconds into the game and another from the right 25 seconds later to give the Trojans a 6-0 lead.

That was about the cushion MDI had through 21/2 quarters. The Trojans were ahead 22-16 at halftime.

It was a matter, Webb said, of throwing a new look at MDI after beating the Trojans twice in the regular season.

“We just thought we would try something different,” he said. “I told the girls, we shouldn’t have done it, but you never know until you try. We could have won the tap and gone down and made a three. You never know.”

McGuan a super starter this time

Bapst’s Erin McGuan has provided a spark off the bench for the No. 2 Crusaders this season. She got the start Wednesday in Webb’s game plan.

By the numbers McGuan had a relatively quiet game. But almost everything she did was clutch in the 40-39 semifinal win over No. 5 MDI.

“I’ve had her on varsity since her freshman year,” Webb said. “She’s a senior leader, a captain, she’s a great kid and the kids look up to her and respect her.”

How can they not? The 5-foot-9 senior forward had four points, including an offensive-rebound putback that got Bapst within one point in the fourth quarter; four rebounds, including an offensive board that Lauren Nichols turned into the go-ahead basket, and at least three assists, including a pass inside to Nichols that gave the Crusaders a 4-point cushion late in the game.

McGuan has started a few games but knows her role off the bench.

“Pretty much I try to get the ball inside,” she said. “If I can shoot, I shoot. But I’m mostly trying to get the ball to [post players Hillary Laferriere and Lauren Nichols.”

Webb likes McGuan’s versatility.

“She’s always been able to come in and give us any type of minutes, her ball-handling, her free-throw shooting,” he said. “… She’s a difficult matchup.”

Crusaders miss Frace

John Bapst freshman girls basketball coach Andy Frace is still in the hospital after suffering a broken pelvis along with a number of other serious injuries in a sledding accident on Jan. 30.

“We’ve done some things collectively,” head coach Mike Webb said. “We’ve gotten them some gas cards, because his wife, Pam, has to drive back and forth from East Corinth.”

Frace’s son, Lucas, has been serving as a manager and a sort-of mascot.

Andy Frace is improving, Bapst athletic director Mike Thomas said. Frace is still at Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Frace called Webb after the Crusaders beat Presque Isle in overtime of a quarterfinal last week.

“He called and said, ‘What are you trying to do, put me in the cardiac care unit?’ … The kids miss him a lot,” Webb added. “I really miss him. He’s a 16-year veteran coach. [Assistant coach Jayson Adams] is awesome but having that other person there is valuable.”

Windjammers honor Wootten

The members of Camden Hills boys basketball team are wearing a piece of black tape on their uniforms in remembrance of Albert “Moose” Wootton.

A longtime bus driver for the Windjammers and the grandfather of Camden Hills senior center Nick Wootton, Moose Wootton died Feb. 8.

“Moose was a bus driver and an unbelievable person,” Camden Hills coach Jeff Hart said. “We put the [tape] on in memory of him and John and Nick.”

Wootton was also the father of Charlie Wootton, a standout player and 1978 graduate of the former Camden-Rockport High. Charlie Wootton helped Camden-Rockport, then in Western Maine, win the 1974 Class B state championship.

MA’s McDormand back for semis

Brian McDormand was back on the sidelines Wednesday to coach his Mattanawcook Academy girls team in its Class B semifinal against Waterville.

McDormand, who last winter was the coach of the Lee Academy postgraduate basketball team, moved over to Lincoln this season.

He sat out Saturday’s quarterfinal victory over Belfast after receiving two technical fouls in the Lynx’s final regular-season game.

“Saturday was like being in jail with a life sentence,” said McDormand, whose squad was coached by MA boys coach and athletic director Rick Sinclair.

“That’s in the past,” McDormand said. “I’m just trying to move forward. It’s about the girls, it’s really not about me.”

New Frame graces tourney

Morgan Frame is only a sophomore at Waterville High, but she is already enjoying her second extended run in the Eastern Maine Class B girls basketball tournament.

The 5-foot-11 center will lead the Panthers into Saturday’s regional title game against John Bapst of Bangor.

Frame has been getting some tournament advice from her dad, Panthers athletic director Doug Frame. He played at the Bangor Auditorium as a senior for former coach Ken Lindlof back in 1986.

“Last year he told me to keep a journal, and I never did,” Morgan Frame said. “He always tells me when I go home the things I need to fix next time. It’s a lot different here.”

Morgan Frame also said her father coached some of the current Waterville team members when they were in fifth and sixth grade.

The Frames also are represented on the team this season by freshman Taylor Frame, Morgan’s sister.