BANGOR — History was going to repeat one way or the other Saturday.

With the last two Class A state champions facing each other at the Bangor Auditorium, there wasn’t a whole lot of unfamiliarity between the two rosters.

In the end, it was McAuley that repeated. Like last year’s win over Cony, the Lions used a late surge to break open a tight game and claim a second straight state title in a 50-39 win over Nokomis.

“I think experience plays a huge role when you get into these type of big games,” said McAuley guard Sarah Marshall.

“We knew what we had to do down the stretch and knew the whole game was going to come down to defense and rebounding. We just came in and executed in the second half.”

Like a year ago, the Lions fell behind early but rallied in the second half. Down by as many as 10 in the first half, McAuley regrouped and forged ahead with a strong final quarter.

“I think we got a little more aggressive offensively,” said McAuley coach Liz Rickett, whose team was plagued by foul troubles in the opening half. “We started going to the basket a little harder and got offensive rebounds and put them back up. I think we took whatever intensity we had on defense and started being that aggressive on offense.”

Sarah Marshall led the Lions (21-1) with 14 points, but Marisa Berne added 10 and Regina Champagne had eight. During an 11-2 run in the closing minutes that opened a 37-37 game, Berne, Champagne and Vanessa Lux all chipped in big baskets and helped control the inside.

“(Berne) and Lux played well down the stretch,” said Rickett. “They both had four fouls and were able to stay in the game and play great defense at the same time.”

Nokomis got 12 from Danielle Clark while Michelle Murray and Sara Lowe each added eight.

The Warriors had a bulk of the team back from the state title team of two years ago that beat McAuley, but Nokomis couldn’t duplicate its strong final quarter that won that clash.

The Warriors did a fine job getting some outside shots in the first half, but that dried up and McAuley’s press and halfcourt defense frustrated the Warriors.

“We had the game in the fourth quarter where we wanted,” said Nokomis coach Earl Anderson. “We missed a couple foul shots and didn’t make a couple of plays and that’s really the only difference.”

Nokomis (20-2) was up 32-30 and had the chance to add to the lead but missed some key free throws with 6:24 left.

McAuley came back and scored six straight, four points coming from Champagne, who had six in the final quarter. A Lowe corner jumper tied the game with 3:59 left, but McAuley scored 10 straight. The Lions cranked up the pace of the game, and the fouls caught up with the Warriors. McAuley hit 18-of-20 free throws in the second half, 14 in the final quarter.

“There are some games where we’re very good at the free-throw line and other games where we’re not so great, but tonight we did very well,” said Rickett.

Nokomis went over three minutes without a basket down the stretch and lost Clark to fouls.

“We got beat by a very good team,” said Anderson. “It came down to a couple of possessions. They made plays and a couple of foul shots and we didn’t and that’s the result.”

Copy the Story Link