Greenville girls top Valley for Class D South championship
AUGUSTA — The team may not have played as well offensively as the coaches and players wanted, but holding the opposition to just one point over nearly two quarters’ worth of game time made up for any shooting woes as No. 1 Greenville High School defeated third seed Upper Kennebec Valley High School of Bingham 45-22 in the 2020 Class D South championship on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Augusta Civic Center.
The Lakers (19-2) won the regional title for the second year in a row and earned a rematch in the state championship against Southern Aroostook Community High School of Dyer Brook at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29 in Augusta. The Warriors, the top seed out of the north at 21-0, won the program’s second consecutive state championship a year ago at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, 55-30 over Greenville. The Class D title game berth is the fourth in program history for the Greenville girls.
Valley (the team ends at 10-11) led early in the game at 3-0 and then 5-2 before a shot from beyond the 3-point line by Greenville senior Jessica Pomerleau tied play. The teams were tied at seven before a Pomerleau jumper gave the Lakers the lead for good at 9-7 late in the first quarter.
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
CLASS D SOUTH CHAMPS! — For the second year in a row, the Greenville girls are the top team in Class D South as the Lakers defeated Valley 45-22 in the regional final on Feb. 22 at the Augusta Civic Center. Greenville will face North champion Southern Aroostook at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29 in Augusta in a rematch of the 2019 Class D championship (a 55-30 win for Southern Aroostook).
After Cavalier freshman Logan McDonald scored in the post, Valley would not score again until late in the second quarter on a free throw. By this time the score was 20-8 in favor of Greenville despite the time team experiencing some struggles at the team’s end of the court.
“It wasn’t very smooth, we haven’t played our best basketball this week, between injuries and illness,” Greenville head coach Maren Mason said. “We are hopeful that another week of practice and a big game next week will bring the girls to life again.”
I know our style of play is much better than we showed this week and the girls know it too, we just haven’t played our best ball. We are hoping to see that next week.”
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
TAKING IT FOR A SPIN — Greenville senior Jessica Pomerleau twirls the net to the crowd following her team’s victory on Feb. 22. Pomerleau scored a game-high 18 points, including seven in the fourth quarter.
“We’re either on or we’re off, there’s no rhyme or reason for it,” Mason said about her team’s shooting difficulties. “Let’s just hope we shoot better next week.”
While Greenville may be looking to improve offensively, the defense did not allow a field goal until the 2:54-mark of the third quarter when a Valley three made the score 29-11 to end a 22-4 run.
“I felt like going into the locker room at halftime, we really had to step it up because it wasn’t how we’re used to playing,” senior Jessica Pomerleau said. “We tried to work our offense quicker and get them off-balance … and then we wanted to spread it out and get as many easy layups as we could.”
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
TOURNEY MVP — Senior Halle Pelletier extends for a shot during the regional final with classmate Morgan Noyes looking on near the top of the key. Following Greenville’s victory over Valley for the Class D South championship, Pelletier was selected as the most valuable player of the regional tourney.
The strategy worked as Pomerleau picked up three lay-ups in the fourth quarter to go along with a free throw for seven of her game-high 18 points. “We tried to work our offense quicker to keep them off balance and once they switched to man we wanted to spread them out so we could have one-one-one,” she said.
“She’s our little spark plug,” Mason said about Pomerleau. “We really look to her to fire us up, she’s our big transition scorer. When she leaks, we can make things happen. When they switched to man-to-man that’s exactly what happened today. She was able to really get us back in the game.”
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
FEET BEHIND THE LINE — Laker senior Bianca Breton sets herself to launch a three. Breton reached double figures with 13 points against Valley.
Pomerleau is one of five senior starters and six members of the Class of 2020 on the roster (they make up two thirds of the nine Laker players). The five — also including tournament MVP center Halle Pelletier, forward Bianca Breton and guards Morgan Noyes and Tiegan Murray — have started since being underclassmen and in addition to last year’s title game have played in multiple state championship softball contests for plenty of big game experience.
“It’s huge, they are playing with experience,” Mason said. “They have played together since middle school. They understand each other and their tendencies on the court so it’s nice to have them step up as veterans.”
The stepping up helped Greenville defeat Valley for the third time this season, following a 58-23 victory in Bingham and 52-11 win in Greenville on Feb. 5.
“I was crying,” Pomerleau said. “I’m really excited. I’m really excited about next week too. It’s going to be a hard task but I can’t wait to just continue and have one more chance at it.”
Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
SPACING ON THE COURT — Senior Tiegan Murray of Greenville looks for positioning around sophomore Emily Collins of Valley on Feb. 22.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Class D South
championship
No. 1 Greenville 45
No. 3 Valley 22
G 11 12 9 14 | 45
V 7 1 6 8 | 22
Greenville: Pomerleau 18,
Breton 13, H. Pelletier 6,
Noyes 5 and A. Pelletier 3
Valley: Collins 10, Beane 5,
McDonald 3, Hill 2 and
Miller 2