BANGOR – For almost the entire season, sophomores Michelle Murray and Lindsey Welch have been splitting time at point guard for the Nokomis girls basketball team, learning to make the kinds of decisions that top-notch point guards make.

Welch and Murray each had a big choice in Saturday’s Class A state championship game. With Western Maine champion Catherine McAuley High on a roll, Welch chose to pass. Murray chose to shoot.

It was the best decision for both. Murray’s 3-pointer off Welch’s assist was a turning point for the Warriors of Newport, providing both a big emotional lift and a four-point lead with about 31/2 minutes left in the game as Nokomis claimed the school’s first Class A state championship.

Sophomore forward Danielle Clark scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Warriors in a 53-43 triumph over the Lions of Portland before a crowd of 4,660 at the Bangor Auditorium.

Eastern Maine teams have won the last 13 Class A state championships. Portland (1988) was the last Western Maine team to win. McAuley, now 20-2, fell to Mt. Blue of Farmington last year.

The gold ball put the finishing touches on a dream winter for the Nokomis girls. The Warriors concluded their first undefeated season with a 22-0 record and the school’s first Eastern Maine championship with a win over powerhouse Cony of Augusta.

And with four sophomore starters and a key reserve returning next year, Nokomis’ future looks bright.

“Hopefully we can do it for two more years, but this feels really good right now,” said the 5-foot-11 Clark.

Murray tossed in 13 points and Welch had seven assists, but none as big as Welch’s pass to Murray for the 3-pointer.

“That stopped the bleeding,” Nokomis coach Earl Anderson said. “You could see it in everybody’s face on the floor. We needed to make one play, one shot, and I thought we could turn it back around.”

The Warriors maintained incredible poise in the fourth quarter as the Lions got closer and closer. McAuley cut Nokomis’ lead to one point twice in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, four Nokomis starters had two fouls apiece at halftime. Sara Lowe (six points, six rebounds) picked up her fourth in the third quarter and Clark played the final 5:18 with four fouls.

“We played poorly, we made a few mistakes, but you have to credit McAuley,” Anderson said. “They made us play poorly.”

The Warriors had a 10-point lead at the end of the third quarter but in the fourth the Lions went inside to 6-1 center Gaby Stone and 5-11 forward Justine Pouravelis. Stone scored the first five points of the period to kick off a 9-0 run.

Marshall drained a 16-footer, and Pouravelis put back a rebound to make it 40-39 with 4:27 left.

Clark hit two free throws but Pouravelis scored and once again McAuley was within a point, 42-41.

With the Lions working to limit Clark’s looks inside, Welch started to drive, then kicked the ball to Murray on the perimeter.

“I knew I wasn’t hitting anything so I knew I had to give more scoring opportunities to my teammates,” Welch said. “I drew the defense, I saw Michelle wide open, and I had confidence in her, 100 percent. I knew she would sink it.”

Murray took a second to think about her next move.

With no defenders around her, Murray threw up the ball. As the shot went in she kept her arms up in the air.

“The ball got reversed to me and I was wide open. I was thinking in my head, do I shoot it or don’t I shoot it? I let it go and shot it. … It was like, Oh my God, we’re going to win this game. There was so much excitement.”

With that, Nokomis had a 45-41 lead. After Pouravelis scored again Welch found Lowe inside for a basket and Warriors closed out the win with six free throws.

Welch had to guard sophomore Marshall, one of the top point guards in the state. Marshall averaged 17.8 points per game this season but scored just eight Saturday.

“For the most part [Welch] neutralized her all game and did a superb job,” Anderson said. “I thought that was probably the most important thing we did.”

Pelkey, the only senior starter, added 10 points and five rebounds.

Pouravelis led McAuley with 16 points and seven rebounds despite a sprained right ankle suffered March 10 in the Western Maine championship game. She sat out part of the fourth quarter Saturday after twisting her left ankle.

The Lions were plagued by poor shooting through the first half and made just four of their 12 free-throw attempts before halftime.

“I think in the second half we played a pretty good game,” McAuley coach Liz Rickett said. “… Our defense was pretty solid and we made some turnovers, probably too many turnovers, but I think overall the game was pretty good. I think first-half shooting made the difference.”

Warriors 53, Lions 43

McAuley (20-2) Nokomis (22-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Pouravelis 7 10 2 5 16 Welch 1 9 3

Marshall 4 6 0 2 8 Pelkey 3 9 10

Freeman 3 12 2 4 8 Murray 4 6 3 13

Libby 0 0 0 0 0 Palmer 0 0 0 0

Jones 0 0 0 0 0 Lowe 3 5 1 7

Stone 3 6 0 0 6 Clark 7 13 4 18

Norden 1 7 0 0 2 Snow 1 2 0 2

Champagne 1 1 1 2 3

Lux 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 19 42 5 13 43 19 44 11 16 53

McAuley 7 16 30 43

Nokomis 14 22 40 53

3-pt. goals: McAuley (0-4): Marshall 0-1, Norden 0-3; Nokomis (4-9): Murray 2-2, Pelkey 2-6, Welch 0-1