By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

FARMINGDALE – A basketball team might expect at least one off night every seven years or so.

Monday was that night for the Dirigo Cougars. The defending Class C state champions, with a lengthy streak in tow, fell behind early to a strong Hall-Dale club and fell short with a late rally in a 39-33 loss to the Bulldogs.

It was the first regular season loss for Dirigo since December of 1998. Since that loss to Mt. Abram, the Cougars had won 124 straight regular season games and 136 straight against MVC foes.

“Words can’t even describe what this is like,” said Hall-Dale forward Chelsey Dionne. “This is amazing. They haven’t lost in seven years. This is going down in the books. This is pretty exciting for Hall-Dale. It’s definitely a milestone for our program. It’s certainly a game we won’t forget.”

Hall-Dale has been Dirigo’s chief rival in recent years, losing the last two regional titles and MVC championship games to the Cougars. Hall-Dale has most of its team returning while Dirigo graduated three starters. That was evident as Dirigo fell behind 17-2 in the first quarter. The Cougars, whose mantra has been “refuse to lose,” appeared afraid to lose early on and struggled to overcome a miserable start.

Dirigo coach Gavin Kane said the team was more unhappy with the way it lost than having the streak ended.

“We don’t talk about that streak too much,” said Kane. “We’re not sure how much it bothers them. We’re more disappointed that we played so tentative. Obviously, credit Hall-Dale for playing a good ballgame, but we did not play Dirigo basketball tonight. That certainly didn’t help our cause.”

Despite the horrendous start, the Cougars got within three points twice in the final quarter. With three starters on the bench for much of the second half, the Cougars received fine performances from Shannon Daley, Megan Russell, Christina Chow and Nicole Kaulback off the bench.

“I was pleased particularly with the group that were in there in that fourth quarter,” said Kane, who also had Michelle Holmquist and Katherine Gagne playing during the Cougar comeback. “They played exceptionally hard. They gave us a chance to possibly pull it out in the end.”

The Cougars were down by 12 to start the fourth, but Holmquist got eight of her game-high 15 points in that quarter. A basket by Gagne, a free throw by Kaulback and a steal by Holmquist had Dirigo within 34-31 with 2:30 left. After a Bulldog turnover, however, Katie Frett stole the ball and converted for a 36-31 lead with 1:54 left.

“Basically, I knew we needed to get the big couple of points,” said Frett. “I was ready to step up and do my job.”

Kaulback fed Holmquist for a score to get the Cougars within 36-33 with 1:37 left. After a turnover, Dirigo had the chance to get even closer, but a turnover nixed that opportunity. Free added a free throw, and Dionne put back a rebound in the final minute.

“It’s too bad we dug ourselves such a big hole,” said Kane. “We really worked our tails off to make it a three-point ballgame late in the fourth quarter.”

Dionne led Hall-Dale (3-0) with 13 points while Caitlyn Laflin added 12.

Dionne had seven points in the opening quarter to spark the Bulldogs start. Hall-Dale hit five of its first nine shots. Dirigo, on the other hand, had a woeful start. The Cougars (3-1) hit just one of its first 10 shots and went four minutes between field goals. Dirigo also had five turnovers as the Bulldogs built a 17-2 lead before a Russell basket ended the quarter.

“We came out hard and showed them that we were here to play, and that we weren’t going home without a win,” said Dionne.