BANGOR — For a team that had only one player with any real varsity experience to its name entering the year, the Maranacook girls basketball team has come plenty far.

This one, though, will go down as a learning experience.

The Black Bears fell to a 64-42 defeat to Mount Desert Island in a Class B North quarterfinal game at the Cross Insurance Center. Just as the Maranacook boys team had done in its own quarterfinal showdown with the Trojans earlier, the Black Bears trailed the entire game in a season-ending defeat.

“It was our first experience in anything like this,” said Maranacook head coach Karen Magnusson. “It was our first experience on a big-sized court in front of this many fans, and you could see how nervous we were, but we knew with a team as young as we are, we wanted to improve, and that’s what we did.”

Third-ranked Maranacook (13-6) fell behind 7-0 early, and that deficit ballooned quickly as MDI pulled in front 20-0 in the first minute of the second quarter. The Black Bears would wake up on offense but still trailed 36-15 at the half as the Trojans continued their own strong play on the offensive end.

“We wanted to break their pressure and get the ball inside, and I thought we did a really good job of that,” said MDI head coach Brent Barker. “We shot the ball great and got a lot of confidence, and we used our inside-outside to get some easy baskets. We had them playing catchup, and that’s a tough spot to be in.”

The Maranacook girls basketball team reacts against MDI during a Class B North girls basketball quarterfinal game Friday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

It would be too tough of one for the Black Bears to come back from despite a solid second half. The sixth-ranked Trojans (13-6) seemed to have an answer for every Maranacook basket at the other end, never letting the Black Bears get closer than 16 to secure a comfortable victory.

Molly Gray had 19 points and eight rebounds, both game-highs, to lead MDI. The Trojans also got 14 points and five rebounds from Lexi Tozier and 12 points and four boards from Sophia Brophy. Natalie Mohlar had 17 points to lead Maranacook and Celia Bergdahl and Cooper Davis added nine each.

Maranacook will bring back everybody but Mohlar next season and has plenty of growth ahead of it with a roster consisting almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Just experiencing this type of environment, Magnusson said, is something that will go a long way toward that growth.

“It’s a tough loss score-wise, but everything about it was great,” Magnusson said. “This was not our year to win a state game, so it’s all about baby steps and getting them that experience. That experience was what it was all about, and we got that and had a tremendous season.”

« Previous

Next »

Related Stories