AUGUSTA – Once the team picture was finished, the younger members of the Lee Academy girls basketball team got up and walked away from their spot in the Augusta Civic Center.

That left just the six seniors, who then got down on the floor with the Class C state championship gold ball, leaned in and found spots to kiss the trophy as the flashbulbs continued to pop.

It took all six of them, but the Pandas’ senior class got it done Wednesday night in the Class C state title game against Madison. Thanks to a strong second half and stellar defense down the stretch, Lee Academy earned a 59-47 victory over the Bulldogs.

Lee’s Amanda Gifford led the way with 18 points, 12 rebounds and six steals as the senior group claimed their seventh state championship in four different sports in four years. Coach Ron Weatherbee’s seniors were making their 10th appearance in soccer, basketball and softball state contests.

For the group, Wednesday’s win was the most memorable considering the program’s move from Class D to Class C this year. Lee won Class D states last year.

“I think was the most meaningful one,” Gifford said. “We’ve said before it was the one after [former Lee star Shelby Pickering] graduated, our junior year [2007], but this one is. We moved up to Class C, people thought we couldn’t do this, and it just doesn’t get better than this.”

Karin Bird added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the 19-3 Pandas. Dana Houghton scored 12 points – it was, she said, probably the best shooting performance of her career – and had 10 boards and three steals. Brooke Harris scored four points and had three steals in a tough defensive effort.

Aarika Ritchie was limited because of foul trouble, but had a key basket late in the fourth quarter. Laci McLaughlin came off the bench for four points and six rebounds.

“They have a lot of weapons when you talk about Gifford and Bird,” Madison coach Al Veneziano said. “They also got some points from Houghton tonight. … You can only shut real good players down for a short period of time.”

Madison’s Margo Russell led all scorers with 25 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. The 5-foot-10 center drained a 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 21 seconds left in the game to cut Lee’s lead to 48-44, but the Bulldogs (20-2) managed just three points from there.

Momentum swung back and forth in the first half, but Madison went into the locker room with a 22-21 lead after scoring twice in the final 25 seconds of the second quarter. Lacey Ashbrook (10 points) drove inside for the first basket of the third quarter, but the Pandas answered with a 12-2 run – Gifford had six points in that span and Lee forced two turnovers – for a 33-26 Lee advantage.

Lee had a 12-point edge at the end of the third.

“At halftime we went in and talked about our defensive intensity. The second half, we knew we needed to get some traps on and pressure the ball more,” Gifford said. “Our defense was what picked up our offense.”

The lead was 13 points in the fourth when Russell single-handedly tried to rally Madison. She scored off an offensive rebound and put in a pass from Brittany Rich on the Bulldogs’ next possession.

Russell then hit two free throws and drained her 3-pointer. Gifford said the Pandas knew Russell could shoot because she has played with Russell, Ashbrook and Madison forward Briann Emery on an AAU team in the past.

That stretch was the first time the Bulldogs were able to go inside to Russell, who was bottled up against Lee’s 2-3 zone with Houghton in the middle.

“They doubled inside and I thought they did what they had to do there,” Veneziano said. “They got double-teams in there, attacked our inside players very much like they needed to.”

Houghton, a 5-8 forward, was in the middle of the zone.

“We knew [Russell] was strong underneath so I had to get around her,” she said. “I can always count on help-side so as long as I got around her and we didn’t allow the entry pass, I always had someone helping out on defense.”

Ritchie stepped in after Russell’s 3-pointer. After going 1-for-7 in the first three quarters, drove inside and dropped in a jumper in the lane with 2:53 left to push the lead back to six.

“We had that lull when they came back so I thought I’d get things going, get in the lane and maybe get fouled or throwing up a shot,” Ritchie said. “I guess it kind of got things going. That, and Amanda’s awesome defense and Dana sticking those shots.”

Later in the fourth, Houghton stole the ball from Russell after the center had grabbed an offensive rebound. Houghton found Gifford, who ran down the court for a layup. She made the basket and was fouled on the play, converted at the line, and the Pandas had a 55-44 lead with 1:33 left.

All that remains for Lee’s seniors is the 2008 softball season.

Lee won Class D state basketball championships in 2005 and 2007, along with soccer states in 2005 and 2006. The Pandas also earned the 2006 state softball crown and won the 2004 cross country Class D state title, the final year that sport had Class D.

The only season they did not advance to the basketball state final was 2005-06, when Lee lost to Greater Houlton Christian Academy in the EM Class D quarterfinals.

jbloch@bangordailynews.net

990-8193

PANDAS 59, BULLDOGS 47

Lee (19-3) Madison (20-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Gifford 6 16 6 8 18 Hebert 0 3 0

Harris 1 5 2 2 4 Rich 0 5 0

Mallett 0 0 0 0 0 Thib’dau 0 0

Grass 0 0 0 0 0 B. St’myr 0 0

Bird 3 6 6 8 14 M. St.’myr 0 2 0

Dow 0 0 0 0 0 A. R’ssell 0 0 0

McL’ghlin 2 5 0 0 4 Ashbrook 4 11 0 0 10

Ritchie 3 10 1 3 7 Hayden 3 4 6

McGaw 0 0 0 0 0 Hutchings 0 0

Houghton 6 16 0 0 12 Emery 2 9 6

M. R’ssell 8 14 25

Smith 0 0 0 0

Totals 21 58 15 21 59 Totals 17 48 13 47

Lee 13 21 45 59

Madison 11 22 33 47

3-pt. goals – Lee (2-7): Bird 2-3, McLaughlin 0-1, Harris 0-3; Madison (4-16): Ashbrook 2-6, M. Russell 1-2, Emery 1-4, Hebert 0-1, M. Stoutamyer 0-1, Rich 0-2