BANGOR — Nokomis is a versatile offensive team with a lot of outside threats, but the Warriors shot so well Saturday morning in their Eastern Class B girls’ basketball quarterfinal that it surprised both their own coach and the opposing coach.

Nokomis had four players score in double figures and tied an Eastern Class B tournament record with nine 3-pointers as the Warriors cruised to a 69-33 victory over No. 5 Mt. Desert Island at Bangor Auditorium.

“I was a little caught off guard that we went out and played as well as we played and shot the ball as well as we shot the ball,” Nokomis Coach Kori Dionne said. “We were confident coming into this game. They came out from the jump and just got after it, and didn’t let up the entire game.”

“I didn’t think they were going to be as effective shooting the ball outside as they were,” MDI Coach Brent Barker said. “I really was planning on trying to pack it in and try to make them beat us from the outside – which is what they did.”

The fourth-seeded Warriors (17-2) advance to the Eastern Class B semifinals Wednesday against top-ranked Presque Isle.
MDI finished at 14-5.

Nokomis freshman Kelsie Richards knocked down a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game. After MDI’s Hannah Shaw scored at the other end, the Warriors effectively put the game away with a 13-0 run.

Nokomis led 20-7 after one quarter and 31-13 at halftime.

Richards hit four 3-pointers and made seven of her eight field-goal attempts, finishing with 18 points.

“The first couple ones, I kind of hesitated, because I haven’t been on as much as I was at the beginning of the season,” Richards said. “It just felt normal again.”

Julie Smith added 13 points for Nokomis and Emilee Reynolds pitched in with 12. Marissa Shaw, who normally works inside, made two 3-pointers and scored all 10 of her points in the third quarter.

The Trojans made just 10 of 34 shots and committed 24 turnovers. Leading scorer Megan Phelps, a 6-foot senior forward, scored 13 points but was just 3 of 13 from the floor.

Nokomis guarded Phelps by committee, with Shaw, Danielle Watson and Traci Carson all drawing the assignment within a few minutes in the second quarter. When each of those players went to the bench with two fouls, the Warriors just threw more players at Phelps.

“We knew that she was the key to anything that they wanted to do,” Dionne said. “I think we ended up with five or six different people who had played her at one time or another. We definitely got a team contribution tonight.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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