AUGUSTA – All season long the loss to Valley in last year’s semifinals has been a driving force, but with that game avenged Thursday, the Rangeley girls’ basketball still have business to settle.

“It puts us in the position where we wanted to be,” said Rangeley coach Heidi Deery.

When the Lakers lost last year, the expected Waynflete-Rangeley rematch in the Western D final didn’t materialize. The Flyers went on to win the regional crown and a state title the Lakers probably felt they should have had.

“But we’re back this year, and we’re looking at getting that title and changing that a little bit,” said senior guard Sabrina Clark.

Rangeley played the Flyers once this season. The Lakers beat Waynflete in Rangeley 52-33 back in January. Despite having that win in hand, the Lakers know Waynflete will be gearing for them. Rangeley handled Valley twice in the regular season by similar margins but got a battle from them in Thursday’s semifinal.

“Obviously, I don’t think she (Waynflete coach Jan Veinot) is going to come up here and try to play the same game because it didn’t go well for her last time,” said Deery. “I look for them to try to do some different things on us, but we will be ready.”

The Flyers (17-1) have guard Noelle Surette, who can shoot and rebound. Forward Khalilah Ummah is a force inside. Waynflete may not be as balanced as they were a year ago, but those two make the Flyers a threat.

“I think defensively we’ll have to be on our game and control the boards as much as we can,” said Deery. “We have to limit their shots and not give them a lot of put backs.”

Rangeley (19-0) counters with its own inside-outside attack. Guard Sarah Schrader and center Krysteen Romero are a tough match, but the Lakers have plenty more. Rosie LaPointe, Justine Frost-Kolva and Sabrina Clark have all elevated their game this year and have chipped in regularly.

“We always try to play as a team,” said Clark. “That’s how we’ve always been taught to play. We don’t have one go-to player. We certainly have players that do most of the scoring, but we also have players that contribute pretty equally to the game.”

Considering both teams have tournament experience and have marquee players that are similar, it may be depth and balance that proves critical. Surette and Ummah combined for all but one point in the regular season loss, while Clark, LaPointe and Frost-Kolva combined for 18 points to go along with strong games by Schrader and Romero.

“I think Waynflete is a good team, but I think we have more players for them to contend with,” said LaPointe.

A Waynflete-Rangeley game always seems to hinge on who dictates the game. In both tournament games this week, Rangeley struggled until it established the tempo at which it likes to play. When they did, the Lakers assumed control. Waynflete doesn’t want Rangeley to push the ball and increase the pace.

“That’s our game,” said Deery. “We want to establish the tempo and the pace. That’s to our advantage. Obviously, they’d like to slow it down a little, but we can’t allow them to do that.”

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