BANGOR – Blame the rims, blame the unfamiliar shooting background, or blame the noise that seems to ascend through the V-shaped roof of the Bangor Auditorium. The bottom line is, you don’t shoot 12-for-58 from the field and win a Gold Ball.
Presque Isle’s persistent zone defense and patient offense gave Lake Region fits Friday night and gave the Wildcats a 48-36 victory in the Class B girls’ basketball final.
Angela Norsworthy scored a game-high 18 points for Presque Isle (21-1), which built a 17-point lead early in the third quarter and weathered two modest runs by the Western Maine champion Lakers. Katie Delong added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats.
“We knew they were too good a team not to make a run at us,” said Delong. “We knew it would take 16 hard minutes of basketball in the second half for us to win.”
Presque Isle captured the state crown for the first time since carting off the Class A hardware in 1997.
Lake Region (21-1) won its only state championship in 1975, the first year the Maine Principals’ Association sanctioned girls’ hoop.
Kate Callahan led Lake Region with 12 points.
Samantha Allen added 11 before fouling out with 2:09 remaining in the game.
The Lakers’ 21 percent shooting proficiency was further complicated by 13 turnovers. Presque Isle primarily packed into a 2-3 zone and challenged the Lakers to exhibit their perimeter prowess.
Presque Isle made an 8-0 run amid the Lakers’ mounting frustration in the second quarter.
Later, the Wildcats punctuated the half with an inside bucket by Moriah Morris, a Sarah Porter steal and a Delong 3-pointer to make it a 28-18 edge.
That lead grew to 35-18 on seven consecutive points by Norsworthy, Delong and Kylan Smith to christen the third quarter.
“(Lake Region) is so quick and fast that we knew they were capable of making a big run,” said Presque Isle coach Jeff Hudson. “I thought we did a nice job at the end of the second quarter and early in the third giving ourselves a lead.”
Allen, held to five points in the first half, erupted for six in the final 3:25 of the third to trigger an 11-1 Lake Region surge. But the Lakers couldn’t sustain the brief rise in temperature, missing seven of eight to launch the fourth quarter. Lake Region also missed the front end of three 1-and-1s, while Presque Isle went 10-for-14 from the stripe down the stretch.
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