BANGOR — It was hectic in the final two minutes, but Nokomis had enough of a cushion to hang on for the victory. And it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the biggest reason for that cushion.
For the second straight year, Nokomis outrebounded top-ranked Presque Isle by more than a 2-to-1 margin in an Eastern Class B girls’ basketball semifinal. Also for the second straight year, Nokomis won by six points, this time holding off a late rally for a 49-43 victory Wednesday afternoon at the Bangor Auditorium.
Additional Photos
Fourth-seeded Nokomis (18-2) moves on to face No. 3 Medomak Valley (18-2) in Saturday’s regional final. Presque Isle finished 18-2.
Led by Marissa Shaw (11 points, 10 rebounds) and Danielle Watson (six points, nine rebounds), Nokomis had a 36-16 edge on the boards, and that stat left Presque Isle Coach Jeff Hudson shaking his head.
“That’s not a shocker,” Hudson said. “It’s disappointing when you know you have to rebound, and you don’t do it. We lost that game in the first half.”
Added Watson: “Me and Marissa, we’re both post players, and we’re just trying to get in front of them and box out. We did it last year, so we figured we could do it this year again.”
Presque Isle center Meredith Shaw picked up three fouls and played only eight minutes of the first half, and the Warriors enjoyed a 24-9 rebounding advantage at the break. Nokomis led 21-14 at halftime and extended that bulge to 14 points early in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors still led 43-34 with 1:52 left. But after a three-point play by Kayla Richards and a long 3-pointer by Megan Ireland (16 points), the Wildcats were within 43-40 with 1:32 still to go.
“We were getting kind of nervous,” Watson said. “But we just stuck together and we pulled it out.”
The Warriors were uncharacteristically shaky with their ball-handling down the stretch, but in the final minute, they were 6 for 6 from the foul line, as Emilee Reynolds hit four free throws and point guard Julie Smith added two.
Reynolds led Nokomis with 15 points and was 7 for 8 from the line in the fourth quarter.
“We stuck with Emilee to the end,” Nokomis Coach Kori Dionne said.
“It was a question of whether to go with a guard at the end of that — (someone) a little bit quicker defensively, and a ball-handler. And I said, ‘No. We’re going to let her ride this out.’ She definitely stepped up and was key there down the stretch.”
While the Warriors committed six turnovers in the final minutes, they played extremely well for the first three quarters and had a few highlight-reel plays.
Midway through the third quarter, Reynolds grabbed an offensive rebound and Nokomis passed the ball around the perimeter for more than a minute. The Presque Isle fans began chanting, “Boring!” but the Warriors finished the sequence with a 3-pointer by Smith for a 28-18 lead.
At the end of the quarter, Watson received a pass in the left corner with about two seconds left. She pivoted, then found Shaw cutting to the basket for a layup to beat the buzzer.
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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