Red Riots become sole team to defeat Dexter in 2012-13
Staff Writer
BANGOR — The adage that it is never easy to defeat a team three times in one season proved to be true during a girls Class C East semifinal on the afternoon of Feb. 22 at the Bangor Auditorium between second seed Dexter Regional High School (who entered at a perfect 19-0) and No. 3 Orono High School (16-3 heading in). The Tigers won both regular season matchups, winning in Dexter 51-42 on Dec. 22 and then at Orono during the regular season finale 43-39 on Feb. 7, but Orono ended up taking the game on the neutral court 40-31.
TOURNEY TIME — Junior Abbie Melvin of Dexter hoists a shot over Orono senior Jillian Woodward during a Class C East semifinal at the Bangor Auditorium on Feb. 22. The third-seeded Red Riots used a 16-0 run in the second quarter for a 23-12 halftime lead on the way to defeating the No. 2 Tigers 40-31. At the top of the perimeter is Dexter sophomores Michaela White (34) and Tasha Pratt (20).
Twenty three seconds into the second quarter Dexter senior Lauren Crane connected from beyond the three-point line — she would tally a game-high 13 points — to put her team ahead 12-7. From there the scoreboard would only change on the Red Riot side as Orono went on a 16-0 run to lead at the half by a margin of 23-12.
In the third quarter Dexter would have both the first and last points, on a basket by sophomore Michaela White and then a pair of foul shots from senior Gabrielle Adam, but these four came around eight more for Orono. Before Adam’s free throws the Red Riots were on a 24-2 run as Dexter shot 2-of-22 in the second and third quarters (a shooting percentage of just over 9 percent) and ended up 8-of-55 in the entire contest (about 14.5 percent).
PEASE IN A TIGHT SQUEEZE — Senior Alison Pease looks to pass around Orono sophomore Abby Weigang, left, and senior Jillian Woodward (to the right is Dexter sophomore Peyton Watson) during the Feb. 22 Class C East semifinal. The game marked the second time in three years the two schools met in the girls semifinal round, with Orono winning both times.
With the team ahead 31-16 to start the fourth quarter, the Orono five spread around the team’s end of the court to pass the ball and run off the clock while looking for a high percentage shot opportunity. Crane began the fourth with a free throw, she would end up with 10 points in the final eight-minute session, and at the 4:45-mark she hit the first of her three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Dexter got to within 11 at 31-20.
Orono again ran its offense efficiently to help wind down the clock after getting rebounds on a pair of missed Tiger shots. With 3:09 to play, the seventh foul committed by Dexter put the Red Riots in the bonus and Orono sophomore Katie Sypher sank both of her attempts from the line for the first Red Riot points of the quarter. Sypher would end up converting seven fourth quarter free throws for over half of her team-high 12 points.
UP AND ADAM — Senior Gabrielle Adam dribbles away from Orono sophomore Katie Sypher.
Orono freshman Hannah Clement and senior Jillian Woodward both had foul shots of their own to make the score 35-20, and put the Red Riot scoring advantage at 28-8 since early in the second quarter.
In the final 89 seconds of play Dexter would increase its point total from 20 to 31 as Crane had a pair of three-point shots, White sank a trio of free throws and two more on a field goal by junior Abbie Melvin. While the 11 points did double the five for Orono — all on free throws as the Tigers fouled to stop the clock — the Red Riots ended up holding on for the victory and trip to the Class C East final a little more than 24 hours later.
In the regional final on the evening of Feb. 23 Orono failed to knock off the bracket’s other unbeaten team as No. 1 Calais High School won 63-54 and to earn a trip to this weekend’s state championship against Western Maine’s fourth seed the Waynflete School of Portland.
The semifinal game marked the second time that Dexter and Orono met in the round in girls play in the last three seasons. In 2011 the Red Riots won 59-41, and the team also fell in the Class C East final to a Washington County school that time 42-39 to Washington Academy of East Machias.
Playing in their final game for Dexter were seniors Gabrielle Adam, Jordyn Bell, Lauren Crane, Alison Pease and Anna Ritland.
TRYING TO HAVE FREEDOM FROM THE PRESS — Dexter sophomore Michaela White applies the pressure to Orono junior Elea Kass on a full-court press, while sophomore Tasha Pratt fights through a screen set by Red Riot sophomore Abby Weigang to stay with Orono freshman point guard Hannah Clement.