Balanced Monmouth girls beat Dexter for Class C state crown

BANGOR — When Scott Wing started as the junior varsity girls basketball coach at Monmouth Academy, he and then head coach Rick Amero decided to start building their program from the bottom up.

“I’m the rec director in town, so we formulated the rec program to our needs and we started them out in kindergarten,” head coach Wing said of what is this season’s junior class.

On Saturday night, some 11 years later, the efforts of the coaches and the hard work of their players came to fruition.

Monmouth Academy demonstrated balance and depth while wearing down Dexter for a 46-37 victory in the Class C girls basketball state championship game at the Cross Insurance Center.

“We have a lot of chemistry. We’ve been playing together forever said junior Abbey Allen, who scored a team-high 16 points.

The Mustangs (20-3) put together a key 8-2 run starting late in the third quarter to build an eight-point advantage, then used a patient approach to work the clock and salt the game away from the foul line.

Tia Day, one of four junior starters on a Monmouth team with no seniors, made three 3-pointers en route to 13 points.

The Mustangs shot only 12-for-42 (29 percent) overall, but created significant difficulties with their full-court, player-to-player pressure to force many of the Tigers’ 15 turnovers.

Monmouth committed only eight.

“We knew they were going to press. It was pretty much what we thought it was going to be,” said Dexter coach Jody Grant. “We had some inopportune turnovers and we didn’t get to the foul line as much as I would have liked.”

Dexter (16-7) relied heavily on the efforts of senior post player Megan Peach, who finished with a game-high 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Classmate Kayli Cunningham provided seven points and six rebounds, but was hampered by foul trouble.

Tigers guards Abby Webber and Kaitlyn Webber expended a lot of energy trying to break the press and also guarding the Mustangs’ versatile guards, including Abby Ferland and Audrey Fletcher. Monmouth also received contributions from Hannah Anderson (six points), Kaeti Butterfield, Maddie Amero and Julia Johnson.

“I have so many kids that I can bring off the bench that I have faith in handling the ball and doing other things that it makes us a tough team to stop,” Wing said.

Monmouth led 16-13 after a poor-shooting first half by both teams, but finally manufactured a spurt starting late in the third quarter.

With the Mustangs leading 27-25, Allen got it started with a drive to the hoop to kick off a conventional three-point play. Peach countered with two free throws late in the quarter.

Ferland opened the final period by making a seven-footer from the baseline, then Day knocked down a 3 after a Dexter turnover to push Monmouth’s lead to 35-27.

“We knew we’d have to step up the defensive pressure because Peach, she’s really tough on the inside,” Allen said.

From that point, the Mustangs were content to spread the floor and work the ball around patiently. The Tigers, unable to generate enough ball pressure to come up with any steals, were instead forced to begin fouling.

Monmouth scored its last 11 points from the foul line, with Day sinking four and Allen making three amidst an 11-for-15 effort in the quarter.

“There’s a lot of resiliency in this group of kids,” Grant said.

“We put ourselves in a situation tonight when I think a lot of people didn’t necessarily believe it would happen,” he said of reaching the championship game.

Bangor Daily News photo/Ashley L. Conti
TUSSLING FOR A GOLD BALL — Dexter’s Kayli Cunningham, left, and Abbey Allen of Monmouth Academy battle for a loose ball during the Class C girls basketball state championship at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Saturday evening. Monmouth captured the Gold Ball with a 46-37 victory.

Bangor Daily News photo/Ashley L. Conti
PEACH BASKET — Dexter’s Megan Peach tries for two past Monmouth’s Abbey Allen during the state championship on March 4 in Bangor. Peach ended up leading all players with 20 points.

Bangor Daily News photo/Ashley L. Conti
MUSTANG VS. TIGER — Hannah Anderson of Monmouth Academy and Dexter’s Ashley Reynolds dive onto the court for a loose ball during the 2017 Class C finale at the Cross Insurance Center. The Tigers were playing in the girls state championship for the first time since 2007.