Ashland wins in 2OT; Katahdin upsets No. 1

loading...

BANGOR – The last time Ashland faced Greater Houlton Christian Academy, Whitney Flint went off for 43 points, leading the Hornets to a big victory.

Coming into Monday night’s matchup with the Eagles, Ashland coach Bill Nemer knew another offensive night like that was unlikely, but Flint had other ideas. The senior point guard poured in 35 points – 16 coming after regulation – as the No. 4 Hornets downed the No. 5 Eagles 76-71 in two overtimes in an Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

“I knew 43 wasn’t going to happen again,” said Flint. “They are very good defensively and we knew we had our work cut out for us.”

With the win, Ashland improves to 15-5 and advanced to a Thursday semifinal against No. 9 Katahdin of Stacyville, a 36-34 overtime winner over top-ranked Washburn.

GHCA finishes at 14-6.

“We didn’t do anything different,” said Flint. “We knew what we are good at and we just tried to focus on that.”

What they were good at was a stifling, full-court trapping press that gave the Eagles fits.

Greater Houlton led by seven with 3:07 left in regulation, but a 3-pointer by Suzanne Poulin and baskets off back-to-back steals by Flint – with Mindy Chasse finishing off the second – tied the game at 51 in just 22 seconds.

“We thought we had to press, and we know that it can be our forte,” said Nemer. “The girls get so sick of [practicing the press]. We do that every night and we’ve been doing it every night since the seniors were in sixth grade.”

Down 26-25 at halftime, the Hornets turned to their other senior, Chasse, for a spark. The forward scored 14 points in the second half and finished with 22.

“Coach told us to keep playing hard and not to give up,” said Chasse. “We knew we could be back in the game within seconds so we just came out and worked extra hard.”

A put-back by Jade Tilley – her only field goal of the game – off a missed 3-pointer by Macie Pelkey with one second left, sent the game into overtime.

From there, it was all Flint. Down 65-62 with five seconds left in overtime, the senior nailed a 3-pointer from right in front of her bench to keep the Hornets alive. She went 6-for-8 from the foul line in the second overtime to seal the win.

“I don’t think I’ve ever given up. These kids have never given up,” said Nemer. “When you have Whitney Flint on the floor, anything can happen.”

Sophomore Taylor Baker added 10 points and seven rebounds. Flint pulled down nine boards.

Leading GHCA was junior Kasi Parker with 24 points and nine rebounds and senior Sara Riopel with 23 points. Senior point guard Chelsie Lord added 15 before fouling out with 2:24 left in the second overtime.

In the second game, the ending might as well have been a dream for Kali Rush, because she never saw her shot go in.

But everyone else at the Bangor Auditorium did, as Rush’s desperation attempt from behind the backboard as time expired in overtime lifted Katahdin to a stunning upset victory.

With time running down, Rush got the ball along the baseline to the right of the basket, about eight feet away. Standing in front of the 5-foot-3 sophomore guard was Washburn center Rachel Palmer, a 6-foot junior with an imposing wing span.

There was no time to search out a sight line, only time to shoot.

“I just saw the girl’s hands, pretty much,” said Rush. “I knew I was behind the backboard a little, so I was trying to get enough arc to get it over the backboard and hopefully it would hit something. I knew there was very little time, so I just shot.”

The ball arched high over the corner of the backboard, and fell through the basket while barely touching the net as the buzzer sounded.

“I didn’t know it went in until everyone started jumping on me,” Rush said.

It was one of the most remarkable of Katahdin coach Dick Barstow’s more than 600 career victories.

“It’s right up near the top, it’s unbelievable,” said the state’s winningest high school basketball coach.

Katahdin (9-11) had done an improbable job just to have a chance to win against a much taller, much more physical Washburn team that held a seven-point lead with less that two minutes left in the fourth quarter.

But Rush and 5-foot point guard Melissa Duffy, who combined for two points through three quarters, found their offense. Rush made two free throws before Duffy hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cougars within 32-30 with 1:02 left.

Duffy then stole the ball and fed Rush for the tying layup with 46 left, eventually sending the game into overtime.

Washburn (16-3) took a quick lead when Kelsee McLaughlin scored 20 seconds into the extra period on a pass from Rebecca Campbell, but the Beavers did not score again.

Duffy’s jumper from the left of the key tied the game with 3:10 left, setting the stage for Rush’s last-second miracle.

“They’re just plain gutty kids,” said Barstow, whose team forced 28 Washburn turnovers. “They like to scrap. They like to play good, hard-nosed defense, and we just let them go.

“We were down nine with three minutes left against Southern Aroostook in the [preliminary round] and won that in overtime, so they know they can hit shots awfully quick, too.”

Olivia McNally led Katahdin with 10 points, while Duffy finished with nine.

Palmer paced Washburn with 13 points and 15 rebounds, while McLaughlin added 10 points and eight rebounds.

COUGARS 36, BEAVERS 34 (OT)

Katahdin (9-11) Washburn (16-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rush 2 3 2 2 6 Berube 0 1 0 0

Majkowski 0 2 0 2 0 Goupille 0 0

Duffy 4 9 0 0 9 McLghln 4 7 10

McNally 4 11 1 3 10 McDougal 3 7

Cyr 0 1 0 0 0 Campbell 1 5 4

Moore 2 14 2 2 7 Bird 0 0 0

Heaeth 0 0 0 0 0 Cochran 0 0 0

Stevens 2 8 0 0 4 Palmer 5 16 13

Totals 14 48 5 9 36 Totals 13 34 17 34

Katahdin 6 13 22 32 36

Washburn 2 11 23 32 34

3-pt. goals – Katahdin (3-14): Duffy 1-1, McNally 1-4, Moore 1-9; Washburn (0-2): Campbell 0-2

HORNETS 76, EAGLES 71

GHCA (15-5) Ashland (15-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Brewer 3 4 1 6 7 Chasse 9 14 22

Riopel 6 11 7 8 23 Flint 11 17 10 14 35

Socoby 1 6 0 0 2 Cook 0 4 0

Parker 11 13 2 5 24 Baker 4 7 10

Lord 2 6 10 14 15 Poulin 2 8 0 6

Smart 0 0 0 0 0 Pelkey 0 5 0

Emery 0 0 0 0 0 Jimmo 0 2 0

S.Michaud 0 0 0 0 0 Tilley 1 1 3

Totals 23 40 20 33 71 Totals 27 55 17 33 76

Gr. Houlton 12 26 38 56 65 71

Ashland 16 25 39 56 65 76

3-pt. goals – Greater Houlton (5-10): Riopel 4-7, Lord 1-2, Parker 0-1; Ashland (5-21): Poulin 2-8, Flint 3-4, Pelkey 0-5, Jimmo 0-1, Chasse 0-1