BANGOR – The Lee Academy girls went out with an exclamation point Saturday morning.

No, they weren’t eliminated from the Eastern Maine Class D tournament. The top-seeded Pandas actually won it with a lopsided win over No. 2 Washburn, but they won’t get a chance to defend their title next season.

Why not? Well, Lee Academy’s enrollment is increasing, meaning the Pandas will have to make the jump into the Class C ranks next season.

“As far as Class C goes, I think it’s going to be very competitive,” said Lee girls coach Ron Weatherbee. “There are some very good teams and we’re going to be at the very low end, enrollment-wise, but I think we’ll be all right.”

The Pandas will also look different on the court as a National Federation of State High School Associations rule going into effect this year requires all teams to wear white as the primary home uniform.

The Pandas are one of the last teams in Maine not to wear home whites. They have traditionally worn gray-and-blue home jerseys

“I don’t know. I’m a little old-fashioned that way,” Weatherbie said. “I like the grays and I think there’s a definite difference between gray and blue, so why couldn’t gray be considered light?”

Most of Lee’s returning players haven’t given it much thought.

“I like our jerseys the way they are, but I suppose if we’re changing classes we might as well change uniforms at the same time,” said junior guard Aarika Ritchie.

At least it won’t adversely affect the school’s athletic budget.

“They told us the rule was coming two years ago so we could factor it in,” Weatherbee explained. “This year, our athletic director was pretty smart. We bought new blue road uniforms this year and next year we’ll get the new white home ones.”

PVHS girls under construction

Penobscot Valley of Howland coach Joe Cyr was proud of the way his team made its return to the Bangor Auditorium after 18 years without a semifinal win.

The fifth-ranked Howlers knocked off No. 4 Stearns of Millinocket in the Eastern Maine Class C quarterfinals, but their run ended Friday afternoon with a 58-54 semifinal loss to No. 8 Calais.

Although he’ll lose eight seniors, including starters Morgan Cyr (his daughter), Kacey Plourde, Kelsy Lavertu and Mindy Dolley, and key backup Lexi Thurlow, Joe Cyr is eager to get back to renovating the program.

“It could be a building year,” he said. “I have a good bunch of carpenters coming back. And we can build a house in a hurry. We have nothing to hang our head about.”

Panther freshman contributes

With all of the foul trouble the Waterville girls starters got into in Saturday’s EM Class B final, the Panthers needed their bench to perform.

They got that from freshman Jennifer Nale, who had 12 rebounds and four points in the 63-46 win over John Bapst of Bangor.

Waterville coach Ted Rioux said Nale was seen as more of a scorer coming into the season but the coaching staff encouraged her to do more rebounding.

“She was one of our top rebounders for the last half of the year,” he said. “You know, you tell a scorer how to get more points and we told her, you rebound and you get more points, and she takes that right to heart. She’s a very intelligent girl.”

Nale said she had to make a big adjustment this year.

“Coming from eighth grade basketball into a team I’d never played with and varsity, it’s definitely a big leap,” said Nale, the sister of former Waterville High and Colby College standout Tracy Nale. “I definitely feel that I’ve matured as a player. There was a slump during this year when I had 3-, 4-point games but I had a bunch of rebounds and I learned that that’s a huge part of the game.”