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BANGOR – There’s something machine-like about the Lee Academy girls basketball team. Saturday night, it was Houlton’s turn to get caught up in it.
The No. 2 Pandas made quick work of No. 1 Houlton in the Eastern Maine Class C championship game at the Bangor Auditorium. Aarika Ritchie was almost automatic in the first half, scoring 22 points overall, and Lee rolled to a 73-49 triumph over the Shiretowners.
“They were firing on all cylinders,” Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “When their five girls get shooting like that, you really can’t stop them.”
Next up for the Pandas, who won the 2007 state title in their final Class D season before moving to Class C, is Madison in Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. state championship game at the Augusta Civic Center.
Houlton and Lee split in the regular season and the Pandas beat the Shires in the Penobscot Valley Conference title game.
Although Saturday’s game was close early, all Lee needed was a 3-pointer from Ritchie and another from Karin Bird to spark a huge first quarter. The Pandas scored 10 points in the final 1:50 for a 26-5 lead.
There was no off switch for Lee in the first half. The Pandas hit 11 of their 16 field-goal attempts in the first quarter and 18-for-32 overall in the first half. They also went 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
It all led to a 47-point first half.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Ritchie said. “I kept looking at the scoreboard, thinking, we can’t be winning by this much. We played so well and shot so well. It was unbelievable.”
Houlton tried at least four different defenses to try to stop the Pandas, but Lee made even its small mistakes look good.
Late in the third quarter Ritchie momentarily lost track of the ball near the 3-point arc but gathered it in and whipped it inside as Brooke Harris was streaking across the baseline. Harris found the pass and hit a layup.
Although Houlton’s 6-foot-1 Rachel Foster poured in a game-high 23 points, Lee limited her to only two field goals and seven points in the first half. The Pandas felt they had to work on Houlton’s guards and limit their passes inside to Foster.
Lee started in a man-to-man defense but went to a 2-3 zone. As most Lee games go, the Pandas forced turnovers no matter what kind of defense they played. Houlton turned the ball over 12 times in the first half and had 19 in the game.
“We figured that Rachel’s going to get hers because we can’t match up with her,” said Lee guard Ashley Gifford, who had five steals. “We were focused on pressuring the ball, pressuring their passers, to try to wear them down.”
Graham said his Shiretowners were tired from three close tourney games in four days.
“We were flat. I was concerned about that coming in if we did meet Lee in the finals, because they like the transition game,” he said. “We played them tough on the year, but their experience showed tonight. They were very poised.”
Foster had a monster rebounding game with 21 boards.
Lee displayed tremendous offensive balance. Gifford and Bird each had 14 points and Harris had 12. Dana Houghton pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
jbloch@bangordailynews.net
990-8193
PANDAS 73, SHIRETOWNERS 49
Lee Acad. (18-3) Houlton (19-2)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Gifford 5 9 4 5 14 Putnam 1 2 2
Harris 4 5 2 2 12 Bartlett 0 0
Mallett 0 0 0 0 0 Dow 3 13 6
Grass 0 1 0 0 0 Foster 9 16 23
Bird 5 14 3 3 14 Sandersn 4 13 8
Dow 0 0 0 0 0 Lackey 1 1 0 2
McLaughln 2 6 1 2 5 Bailey 0 0 0
Ritchie 9 12 2 3 22 Herring 1 3 2
McGaw 0 2 0 0 0 McPartlnd 2 6
Houghton 3 11 0 0 6 Caron 0 0 0
Totals 28 60 12 15 73 Totals 21 55 49
Lee 26 47 68 73
Houlton 5 17 33 49
3-pt. goals – Lee (5-7): Harris 2-2, Ritchie 2-3, Bird 1-1, Gifford 0-1; Houlton (0-8): Sanderson 0-2, Bartlett 0-3, Dow 0-3
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