You all remember Valentine’s Day last year, right? If not, the Lawrence girls can remind you.
A snowstorm and differing school policies afforded Messalonskee a practice the day before it met Lawrence in the Eastern A tournament. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, did not practice. On game day, an interminable stall-ball, four-overtime game played out while Messalonskee and Lawrence stood around waiting to play. When they finally did, Messalonskee pulled off an overtime upset.
Additional Images
Eastern A girls at a glance
Defending champ: Oxford Hills
Players to watch: Nia Irving, Lawrence; Dominque Lewis, Lawrence; Paige Belanger, Lawrence; Mary Butler, Bangor; Cordelia Stewart, Bangor; Sophie Holmes, Messalonskee; Ally Turner, Messalonskee; Caitlin Kane, Mt. Blue; Eryn Doiron, Mt. Blue; Anna Winslow, Oxford Hills; Tianna Sugars, Oxford Hills; Mikayla Morin, Oxford Hills; Julia Champagne, Brunswick; Emily Jacques, Edward Little; Tianna Harriman, Edward Little; Eraleena Hairston, Edward Little; Erin Murphy, Hampden; Sophie Narofsky, Hampden
Matchup we’d like to see: Lawrence and Bangor split two meetings in the regular season. A third game would have the Augusta Civic Center jumping.
Team most likely to pull an upset: Mt. Blue beat Edward Little by 16 points on Jan. 29. Oxford Hills definitely has the potential to make a run.
We’d be surprised if: Messalonskee upset Lawrence for the second straight year.
Championship prediction: Bangor and Lawrence are pretty much a toss-up, but Bangor won the last regular season meeting. So we’ll go with the Rams.
Almost a year to the day, No. 2 Lawrence and No. 7 Messalonskee meet again in the Eastern A quarterfinals at the Augusta Civic Center. The game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., and it’s one of four Eastern A girls basketball quarterfinals scheduled for Friday at the Civic Center. The others are No. 3 Oxford Hills vs. sixth-seeded Brunswick at 3 p.m., No .4 Edward Little against No. 5 Mt. Blue at 7, and top-ranked Bangor facing No. 8 Hampden at 8:30.
Lawrence is 17-1 this season, with the only loss at Bangor earlier this month. Nia Irving (23.4 points, 18.2 rebounds per game) was once again named Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A Player of the Year. Dominique Lewis is averaging 13.9 points and 8.1 assists, and Paige Belanger is at 12.2 ppg and 11.4 rpg.
“We’re approaching it like we do every game,” Lawrence coach John Donato said. “I think this year’s team is a little more focused. Last year, we barely beat them at the end of the year, and they got into our heads. I think this year is a little different — not guaranteeing anything though.”
Two of Lawrence’s wins came over Messalonskee — 64-41 in Oakland and 67-40 in Fairfield.
“They’re disciplined. They’re efficient,” Messalonskee coach Keith Derosby said. “For us, there is a size differential, so trying to find different ways to neutralize that is challenging. We have to do a better job of not taking the first shot, but getting the best shot each possession.”
Derosby also pointed out that Messalonskee isn’t the same team that upset Lawrence in last year’s quarterfinals. The Eagles are much younger this time around, with an offense led by sophomore Sophie Holmes (17.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg).
Mt. Blue (11-7) has been a little bit below the top four teams in Eastern A. At least that was the case, until the Cougars defeated Edward Little (14-4) by a 61-45 score in late January. The Red Eddies beat Mt. Blue by 12 in December in Auburn.
“The first game early in the season at EL, we got ourselves into a pretty deep hole early in the game,” Mt. Blue coach Gavin Kane said. “Actually, we were trailing by 13 in the second half before battling back and cutting it to one point with a minute and a half left in the game.
“The night we beat them at home, our kids just really put together a great effort.”
EL’s top scorers are Emily Jacques (13.1 ppg) and Tianna Harriman (11.5 ppg). Mt. Blue counters with Caitlin Kane (14.4 ppg).
“At times, with these top four teams in the Heals, we’ve been tentative,” Coach Kane said. “We’ve competed with all of them. We just need to come out much more aggressive on the offensive end.”
Oxford Hills (15-3) won this bracket last year, and with players like Anna Winslow (14.4 ppg), Mikayla Morin (10.0 ppg), and Tianna Sugars, the Vikings are dangerous again. They’ll face Brunswick (11-7) and Julia Champagne, the KVAC’s No. 2 scorer at 22.5 ppg. The Vikings won both meetings this winter, 35-32 and 35-28.
Bangor (17-1) went from missing the playoffs completely last winter to the No. 1 seed. With Mary Butler, Cordelia Stewart, and Katie Butler, the Rams often simply overpower opponents with their height. Mary Butler, with her passing and three-point shooting, can also play very effectively on the perimeter. The Rams defeated Hampden (10-9) twice this winter, by 19 points each time.
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.