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AUGUSTA – Three weeks ago the Oxford Hills girls basketball team was almost an afterthought in the Eastern Maine Class A tournament spectrum, the result of injuries that had sidelined multiple starters.
But those starters returned just in time for a postseason run never before seen in school history, as the Vikings of South Paris claimed their first regional title Friday with a 52-49 victory over four-time defending champ Cony of Augusta.
“When we had three starters out at one time, I felt like why does everything bad have to happen to us,” said Oxford Hills senior guard Kari Pelletier. “But they came back, and now we’ve won the Eastern Maine title.”
Fifth-ranked Oxford Hills (15-6) knocked off No. 4 Bangor, No. 1 Lawrence of Fairfield and No. 3 Cony to earn its crown, and a date in the state final at 3 p.m. next Saturday at Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center.
Cony, which had won nine consecutive playoff games at the Augusta Civic Center since the Eastern A tourney was moved there from Bangor in 2006, ends its season with an 18-3 record.
Megan Joyce, who gained medical clearance to return to the Oxford Hills lineup on the day of its quarterfinal win over Bangor after suffering a pelvis injury 17 days earlier, led the Vikings with 15 points and eight rebounds.
The 6-foot sophomore center also gave Oxford Hills a 50-49 lead – the last of five lead changes within a 1 minute, 14 second span – on a post move with 43 seconds remaining.
Each team then missed the front end of a one-and-one from the free-throw line before Cony was forced to foul Pelletier with 5.9 seconds left.
Pelletier, who set a Eastern A tournament record with 31 free throws, calmly knocked down both ends of her one-and-one to give Oxford Hiils a three-point lead.
“I knew they were going in,” said Pelletier, a 74 percent free-throw shooter during the regular season who shot 86 percent (31 of 36) from the line during the tournament.
Cony had one last chance, but a 3-point shot from the left wing by Courtney Dufour missed the mark as time expired.
Junior forward Melanie Cloutier added 13 points for Oxford Hills, while Pelletier scored 12 and sophomore forward Lindsay Fox – who missed time late in the season with a concussion – had eight, including two key fourth-quarter baskets as Oxford Hills rallied from a 45-40 deficit with three minutes remaining.
Oxford Hills entered the game with a fairly strong measure of confidence, the result of a regular-season win at Cony.
But when Cony scored 16 unanswered points in response to a 6-2 start by the Vikings, that confidence was tested.
“These girls knew they could beat them,” said Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier. “They knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it wasn’t easy, but down the stretch it was just the girls stepping up and making big shots.”
Oxford Hills rallied within 27-19 by intermission despite 10 second-quarter points by Cony guard Shelby Pelkey, as the Vikings focused their defensive attention on Rams’ star center Rachael Mack.
Pelkey added eight points in the third period, but Oxford Hills still stayed within 39-33 by the end of the quarter.
The Vikings twice pulled to within one point, the second time at 41-40 on a left-handed drive by Pelletier with 5:35 to play.
Then Pelkey turned playmaker, twice driving into the lane to set up two layups by Kayla Belanger to restore Cony to a five-point lead before Oxford Hills mounted its final comeback.
“There are many teams that have been down 10 to Cony and just given up because they don’t have the energy to battle back,” said coach Pelletier. “I said to the girls, ‘you aren’t one of those teams, you guys can battle back ,’ and they showed it.”
Pelkey finished with a game-high 24 points for Cony, while Mack had 12 points and seven rebounds and Belanger scored 10 points.
eclark@bangordailynews.net
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VIKINGS 52, RAMS 49
Oxford Hills (15-6) Cony (18-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Pelletier 3 6 6 6 12 Pelkey 8 11 24
Fox 4 5 0 0 8 M. Dufour 0 0 0
Brett 1 6 0 0 2 Belanger 5 10
Durgin 1 4 0 0 2 Mack 5 9 12
Martin 0 0 0 0 0 Ford 0 2 0
Cloutier 5 9 0 1 13 C. Dufour 1 3
Joyce 6 12 3 5 15
Courcy 0 2 0 0 0
Rugg 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 20 44 9 12 52 Totals 19 37 49
Oxford Hills 6 19 33 52
Cony 15 27 39 49
3-pt. goals – Oxford Hills (3-9): Cloutier 3-5, Durgin 0-1, Brett 0-3; Cony (5-14): Pelkey 4-6, C. Dufour 1-6, Ford 0-2
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