WINSLOW — Truthfully, neither team played all that well. But this was one of those times when Winslow would have gladly walked away with an ugly win.
Facing Hermon for the right to go to the Bangor Auditorium, Winslow shot 19 percent and lost a winnable game as 10th-seeded Hermon defeated the seventh-ranked Black Raiders 40-33 in an Eastern B girls basketball preliminary round game Tuesday evening.
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Hermon committed 24 turnovers, shot 34 percent from the floor and made just five of 20 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. But the Hawks atoned for their offensive sins by muscling inside for key offensive rebounds.
“They killed us on the offensive boards,” Winslow coach Tom Nadeau said. “They made us pay several times on those.”
Hermon’s final seven-point margin was the largest lead for either team all game. The Hawks led 17-14 at halftime as senior Victoria Davenport (16 points, 18 rebounds) hit for 10 points in the second quarter. After Hermon broke a 21-21 tie in the third quarter, the Hawks never lost the lead.
The two teams took very different approaches on offense. Hermon did not take a 3-pointer all game. Winslow, it seemed, took about 5,000. The Raiders tried early on to get the ball in the post to 5-foot-11 center Elizabeth Ferry, but kept throwing the ball away.
After that, Ferry continued to work hard to get open, but Winslow abandoned its post-up game, except for one play two minutes into the third quarter: Kelsea Bouchard (14 points) made an entry pass to Ferry, who made a nice move and put in an easy layup.
Other than that play, the Raiders settled for 3-pointers, penetration shots and pull-up jumpers, and Ferry (12 rebounds) finished with three field goal attempts.
“That’s something we talked about,” Nadeau said. “We talked about getting the ball inside and getting shots from inside.”
Still, Winslow had opportunities to win in the fourth quarter, and was down by just 33-30 with two minutes left. But, trailing by five with 90 seconds left, the Raiders missed a breakaway layup.
Trailing by four after two Hermon free throws and a long 3-pointer by Bouchard, Winslow missed a 3-pointer and two open shots from the foul line. In the final minute, when they were still within five points, the Raiders twice threw the ball to Hermon’s Raychel Alley for a costly turnover.
It was an unsatisfying and inappropriate ending to the season for the Black Raiders, who had played hard all winter, but had to settle for a 13-6 record and one game short of the Bangor Auditorium.
“They had a great season,” Nadeau said. “They had nothing to hang their heads about. They should be proud. Thirteen wins is a good season — it’s a great season. A lot of teams wish they were playing tonight or this weekend, and a lot of teams weren’t, and we were.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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