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BANGOR – Sometime this afternoon, the Lee Academy girls basketball team will gather in the school’s cafeteria for a meal before getting on the bus for the trip to the Bangor Auditorium.
That meal will likely include pasta, maybe some bananas, and definitely a lot of water. The Pandas will need to replenish their energy supply – they’ve got an Eastern Maine Class C title to play for tonight.
No. 2 Lee got there by virtue of a 61-41 victory over No. 3 Washington Academy of East Machias Friday night at the Bangor Auditorium.
The Pandas will face No. 1 Houlton, which beat No. 5 George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill 54-52 in the late game. The two teams split during the regular season and Lee beat the Shiretowners in the Penobscot Valley Conference championship game.
The Lee squad is used to having some time off in between tourney games. The Pandas are the defending Class D state champions but moved up to Class C this year.
“This is a big game for us, to get to the Class C championship,” said forward Karin Bird, who scored 14 points despite suffering from leg cramps in the fourth quarter. “This was our goal. One more …”
The Pandas’ defensive pressure and a mix of man and zone defenses forced the Raiders into 23 turnovers.
As well as Lee played defensively, the Pandas struggled to get their shots to fall at times. WA led early, until Lee’s Brooke Harris hit the first of her two 3-pointers of the first quarter, and the Raiders were able to stay within 10 points.
Washington Academy got it down to five when Andi Flannery hit two free throws early in the third quarter, but the lead was back up to nine at the start of the fourth.
The Pandas outscored the Raiders 16-4 in the final 4:21.
“We started to get down when they put their press on because we hadn’t seen that yet,” Bird said. “They got a couple of quick turnovers. We got our composure back and our press worked really well.”
Bird and Aarika Ritchie paced a well-balance offense. Ritchie also had 14 points, while Amanda Gifford scored 13 and Dana Houghton added 10. Harris had eight more.
“I thought we played good defense tonight but they have so many weapons,” WA coach Gary Wood said. “They’ve got five girls who can drive to the hole, shoot outside. They’re tough matchups. And we couldn’t score in that second half. We had some looks but we couldn’t put them down.”
As usual, Houghton had a big rebounding game, too. She grabbed 11 boards while trying to keep WA’s Andi Flannery from working the glass.
“She’s doesn’t have much height but we heard she attacked well and was really aggressive on the boards,” Houghton said. “We just tried to keep her and [Taylor Seeley] out and just crash the boards.”
Still, Flannery had a good game with 16 points and seven rebounds. She had five offensive boards, three of which she put back for baskets.
WA’s Kayla Wood added 12.
jbloch@bangordailynews.net
990-8193
PANDAS 61, RAIDERS 41
Wash. Acad. (15-4) Lee Acad. (17-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Espling 1 2 0 0 3 Gifford 4 10 13
Nicely 1 5 0 0 2 Harris 3 10 8
Seeley 1 1 0 0 2 Mallett 0 0 0
Parker 0 0 0 0 0 Grass 1 1 2
Flannery 7 10 2 2 16 Bird 6 11 14
Smith 0 0 0 0 0 Dow 0 0 0
Jones 0 1 0 0 0 McLghlin 0 0
Wood 5 16 2 2 12 Ritchie 5 7 4 14
Fritz 1 11 2 4 4 McGaw 0 0 0
Price 1 2 0 0 2 Houghton 2 10
Lehman 0 0 0 0 0
Tinker 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 17 48 6 8 41 Totals 21 46 16 20 61
Washington Acad. 13 25 31 41
Lee Acad. 21 32 40 61
3-pt. goals – Washington Acad (1-11): Espling 1-2, Nicely 0-3, Fritz 0-2, Wood 0-4; Lee Acad. (3-9): Harris 2-4, Bird 1-3, Gifford 0-1, Houghton 0-1
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