By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – Between injuries and some early losses, there was a point this season where things didn’t look too promising for the Hyde Phoenix.

The team’s top player was out with an injury, and Hyde lost five of its first six games.

“We had a slow start to the season,” said Hyde center Shinikwa James. “I was hurt. It was just a bad season. We worked hard to bring it together as a team and we just kept getting better.”

Hyde’s work paid off Saturday as the Phoenix stunned Valley with a 39-27 win in the Western Maine Class D championship game. It was the first regional title for the Phoenix, which had only been past the quarterfinals twice prior to this year. Hyde plays Lee Academy at the Bangor Auditorium Thursday night.

“We came in here with nothing to lose,” said James, who scored 17 points and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player. “We just wanted to leave everything out on the court.”

Valley (15-5) was shooting for its first championship since 1998, but like it did two years ago, upsetting Rangeley in the finals and losing to Waynflete in the title game, the Cavaliers didn’t have the same game it had in Thursday’s semifinal upset.

“We haven’t shot like that all year,” said Valley coach Gordon Hartwell. “That’s by far the worst we’ve shot. The only game I can think of where we shot like that was two years ago against Waynflete. We should have been able to be quite successful, but we just couldn’t get the shots down.”

Valley shot 11-for-55 as a team and managed just six points the entire second half. Kristin Baker, who had 36 points in the win over Rangeley Thursday, had just nine points and shot 4-for-34.

“They gave us enough chances,” said Hartwell. “We just didn’t shoot. The shots just didn’t fall. It seemed like once it built from quarter to quarter, it seemed to keep gaining momentum.”

Hyde (10-10) came out strong with six straight points to build a 6-2 lead. The Phoenix immediately proved it had come to play, and Valley quickly discovered it was in for a battle.

“We knew we could play with them if we came out and played our game, which is exactly what we did,” said Hyde coach Betsy Olney

Hyde built a 12-5 lead in the opening quarter with a jumper from Shayna Diaz and baskets by James in the lane.

Hyde guard Sabriah Faustin pestered Baker the entire game and made it tough for the Cavaliers to get its offense going. Baker couldn’t penetrate effectively and was forced to rush shots. Early foul trouble on Jeri-Dee Fitzmaurice hindered Valley’s attempt at establishing an inside/outside game.

“We knew their offense went through her, and if we shut her down, we had a chance of winning it,” said James.

Baker’s first points of the game came with 6:05 left in the half. She hit a 3-pointer and scored on a fast break to put Valley up 19-16. Faustin scored six points in a 6-2 surge to end the half with the Phoenix up 22-21.

“We were up by one at halftime, and our defense got more intense as the game went on,” said Olney.

Valley, which shot 8-for-28 in the first half, went just 2-for-12 from the floor in the third quarter and hit just one of 15 shots in the final quarter. After going over three minutes between field goals in the third quarter, Valley went over nine minutes before a Taylor Plourd rebound with 2:40 left. By that point, Hyde had built a 37-25 lead.

“The looks were decent,” said Hartwell. “We had stuff on the baseline that were wide open. We had stuff on top that was wide open. When that happens, you’re in for a tough night.”

Hyde managed to open up the double-digit lead with 17 straight points in the second half. Though the Phoenix had 15 turnovers in the second half, Hyde managed to get eight points from James inside and some nice drives by Faustin and jumpers by Mahalia Gould and Eden Waller.

“I knew they were a small team,” said James. “So I could get it down low and score a couple times. They were going to throw some double teams and triple teams at me, and that’s exactly what happened. That opens thing up for the outside shooters on our team.”