3 min read

AUGUSTA โ€” All it took for the Mattanawcook Academy girls basketball team to win its first state championship was a giant game from its best player.

Senior forward Addison Cyr scored 25 points and hauled down 23 rebounds to lead the undefeated Lynx to a 54-40 win over Spruce Mountain in the Class C final Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

โ€œIt feels absolutely amazing,โ€ Cyr said. โ€œWe worked so hard for this all year. To get the end result is just a dream come true.โ€

Cyr, a Miss Maine Basketball finalist, was 9 for 15 from the field and 7 for 8 from the free-throw line. Fellow senior Megan House added 14 points as Mattanawcook finished a perfect 22-0.

โ€œSheโ€™s so strong, sheโ€™s so nimble, sheโ€™s so skilled. She can do a lot of different things with the ball,โ€ Lynx coach Pat House said of Cyr. โ€œSheโ€™s not your prototypical post player. She makes good reads, sheโ€™s very dynamic, and sheโ€™s an absolutely wonderful human being to be around.โ€

Natasha McDonald led Spruce Mountain (20-2) with 20 points. Aisla Armandi scored eight points and had six rebounds.

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Mattanawcook led the entire game. The Lynx opened with an 8-0 run and ended the first quarter with a 14-5 advantage.

โ€œWe knew getting off to a good start would help us tremendously throughout the game,โ€ Cyr said. โ€œThere was a few times where we let the excitement and emotion of the game get to us. But we calmed down, played with each other, played for each other and got it done.โ€

Spruce Mountain chipped away at the deficit, thanks to McDonald, who scored 10 of her 20 points in the first half. At halftime, the Lynx had a 23-19 lead.

While the Phoenix had strong shooting from the outside with McDonald, who hit four 3-pointers, the post was locked down by Cyr and senior forward Chloe De La Cruz. The pair kept Spruce Mountain from making any easy baskets, and they dominated the boards with a combined 31 rebounds.

โ€œOur defense is something we really focused on this year,โ€ Cyr said. โ€œOut on the perimeter, we had (defense) from Natalie (Turner), Riley (Irish) and Megan (House). It makes the outside game harder (for opponents). To be able to have me and Chloe (in the post) to stop their driving, you can really stop them at all three spots.โ€

โ€œAll of our posts have done a great job of understanding (our defensive strategy),โ€ House said. โ€œWe really limit teams. They kind of go into the paint, and they do a good job of closing out (space) and being responsible that way.โ€

Spruce Mountain outscored the Lynx 15-14 in the third quarter, but Mattanawcook held the Phoenix to just six points in the fourth.

โ€œWe competed, we played hard the whole time, we did what we wanted to do,โ€ Spruce Mountain coach Zach Keene said. โ€œSometimes it just comes down to a team making more plays, or a couple more shots. But we were going to fight, we were going to compete. There was never a question about that. Itโ€™s just one of those where we couldnโ€™t quite get over the hump.โ€

Dave Dyer is in his second stint with the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel. Dave was previously with the company from 2012-2015 and returned in late 2016. He spent most of 2016 doing freelance sports...

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