Dragons’ defense suffocates CAHS Woodland advances to EM final

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BANGOR – A pressing, trapping defensive effort by No. 2 Woodland was too much for the No. 3 Central Aroostook girls basketball team in Thursday night’s Eastern Maine Class D semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Dragons forced 34 turnovers, including three in the final 65 seconds, for a 42-33 victory and a spot in the EM Class D final Saturday morning.

Courtney Cochran led 18-3 Woodland with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while Sarah Long scored 22 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the No. 3 Panthers of Mars Hill (18-3).

Woodland, the 2006 state champ, will face No. 4 Ashland, a 45-35 winner over No. 9 Katahdin of Stacyville in the late game.

Woodland had an 18-point lead early in the third quarter but a 13-0 run got the Panthers to within five points. The Dragons were up five points again after Long put back a rebound with 1:52 left in the game, but a travel call 18 seconds later, along with the three CAHS turnovers in the closing moments, helped seal it.

“When our full-court press is working we force errors and we get a lot of momentum and intensity,” said Torrey, who had seven points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and was a constant defensive pest.

Central Aroostook had 19 first-half turnovers and went 3-for-12 from the free-throw line, but stayed in it for a while thanks to a 1-3-1 zone with Long, Kayla Day and Alexandria Dame in the middle row. The zone had the desired effect, which was to limit touches by Cochran, a 6-foot forward. She went 2-for-7 in the first half and the Dragons had their own turnover issues trying to get the ball into her.

“That was the first time we’ve played that this year,” Panthers coach Rodney Codrey said. “We haven’t had to do that. We’ve practiced it the past couple of days.”

The Dragons started to make some mid-range jumpers in the second quarter, going on an 8-0 run to build a 10-point lead.

“[Central Aroostook] forced it out and packed it in all at the same time,” Torrey said. “I don’t know how they did it. They did a good job forcing our outside shots.”

Central Aroostook’s Dame scored eight points and had eight rebounds, while Kayla Day had 10 rebounds. Long and Dame were the only Panther players to record field goals.

CAHS did a fine job of drawing fouls – Woodland picked up its seventh team foul 1:35 into the second quarter – but couldn’t convert at the line. The Panthers went 3-for-12 in the first half and 5-for-17 overall.

Ariel Knights added 10 points and six rebounds for the Dragons and Julia Nicholas each scored seven in a well-balanced offensive effort. Ashley Laking, Knights and Nicholas, who scored off a Torrey pass with 43.8 seconds left, also provided plenty of defensive pressure.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

990-8193

DRAGONS 42, PANTHERS 33

Cen. Aroostook (18-3) Woodland (18-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

C. Hartin 0 0 0 0 0 Laking 2 7 4

Bradley 0 9 2 2 2 Boomer 0 0 0

B. Hartin 0 0 0 1 0 Knights 4 10 10

Day 0 0 1 3 1 Torrey 3 18 1 7

Graham 0 1 0 2 0 Nicholas 3 14 1 4 7

Mean 0 0 0 0 0 Cochran 4 15 5 13

Dame 4 7 0 0 8 Parks 0 0 0 0

S. Long 9 15 4 9 22 White 0 0 0

Bergin 0 0 1 1

Totals 13 32 7 17 33 Totals 16 64 10 26 42

Central Aroostook 6 11 24 33

Woodland 8 23 30 42

3-pt. goals – Central Aroostook (0-2): Bradley 0-1; Woodland (0-2): Knights 0-1, Torrey 0-1