AUGUSTA – Justine Frost-Kolva shot it like she knew it was going in.

She let it fly, dangled her hand in the air, admired the shot momentarily and calmly headed up court as the 3 swooshed through the net. Frost-Kolva looked a little Larry Bird-esque as she found the hot hand Saturday.

“When I shoot the ball, and I get in a rhythm, I just know that they’re going to go in,” said the junior guard. “I wasn’t really on in the first half, but I just kept shooting because I knew I had to.”

Frost-Kolva was just part of Rangeley’s outside shooting barrage that delivered the Lakers its first Class D state title since 1993. Rangeley’s outside shooting helped spark a second-half surge that left Lee Academy searching for an answer in a 63-47 win.

“It’s been there all year,” said Rangeley coach Heidi Deery. “We’ve used it all year, but a lot of people couldn’t contain (Krysteen) Romero. So we were able to go inside. We knew at tournament time that was going to be huge.”

Rangeley (21-0) set a Class D tournament record with nine 3-pointers, beating the old mark of seven set by Wisdom in 1998. Cony has the A record with nine. Frost-Kolva also tied the individual record with four, tying Trisha Cyr of Wisdom. Sabrina Clark added three trey’s while Rosie LaPointe had a pair.

“It was definitely frustrating,” said Lee’s Shelby Pickering, who scored a game-high 28 points. “We were in the game most of the time, but when they started hitting the 3’s, they started pulling away more. It would have helped a lot if we had gotten the momentum and those 3’s had never happened.”

Romero led the Lakers with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Frost-Kolva had 14 points and five rebounds. Sarah Schrader added 14 while Clark had 11.

It was the third state game for the Lakers in the last four years. Many of the Lakers were part of the team that lost to Woodland as freshmen two years ago.

“That one was a big loss,” said Romero. “That was my freshman year. I was really naive and immature in my game at that point. I really didn’t understand it all. It’s an amazing feeling. Our team really deserves this because we’ve worked so hard.”

Deery, who won a state title as a player in 1984, has now coached the Lakers to a Gold Ball twice, in 1993 and 2004.

“They both have some gratification,” said Deery. “When I got involved in coaching, all I wanted to do was help a group of girls have the same experience I had.”

Though Pickering had an outstanding game for the Pandas (19-3), Rangeley’s defense made it a challenge. Schrader worked Pickering pretty hard while the rest of the Lakers did a nice job shutting down Lee’s offense.

“I really thought our defense did it,” said Deery. “Pickering got her points. We wanted to contain her. We really focused on the other four people and that worked. That’s what we tried to do all year. Let’s concentrate on her and let’s concentrate on everybody else.”

Lee moved within two points on a Pickering rebound late in the third, but before the Pandas could get much momentum, Frost-Kolva calmly sank her 3 from the corner. The Lakers got the ball back, milked the clock and received a basket from Romero inside for a 42-35 lead entering the fourth.

“Once we got going, we just go on a roll,” said Frost-Kolva. “We get intense and we just pump each other up.”

Lee had a shot in the fourth quarter when Pickering scored and Romero picked up her fourth foul, but the Lakers got hotter and their balance wore the Pandas down.

“Everyone is always saying, ‘Sarah Schrader and Krysteen Romero, you have to key on them. They do all their scoring,'” said Romero. “Every game we’ve proved them wrong. Every game everyone has stepped up. We have five threats and not just two or three.”

Pickering moved Lee within 45-41 with 6:27 left, but a Frost-Kolva 3 answered that. Schrader followed with a drive and the lead was 50-41. After a Pickering score, Rangeley scored eight straight to put the Pandas away.

“A lot of people talk about Eastern Maine basketball and the schedule that Lee has and that our schedule doesn’t compare,” said Deery. “I’ve said that they have a lot of things we have to contend with but we also have a lot of things they have to contend with. They’ve got to answer Sabrina and Justine and Schrader and Rosie and Krysteen. What is their answer going to be? They didn’t have it.”