BANGOR — It looked like a scene the Nokomis girls had played out three days earlier. Nokomis plays sublime for three quarters. Nokomis has a big lead. Nokomis’ opponent makes a big comeback.
It was frustrating and nerve-racking, but the Warriors of Newport will take it because it had the same ending.
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Fourth-seeded Nokomis held off top-ranked Presque Isle on Wednesday, and held off third-seeded Medomak Valley of Waldoboro for a 50-41 victory in the Eastern Class B girls’ basketball final Saturday night at the Bangor Auditorium.
The win put Nokomis (19-2) in the state final for the second straight year. The Warriors will face Leavitt (21-0) at 6 p.m. Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Nokomis played its usual controlled game, and it worked beautifully for three quarters. With 2:27 left in the third quarter, Nokomis led 34-19.
At that point, Alanna Vose of Medomak (18-3) got hot. Vose, held scoreless for the first 21-plus minutes, ended the quarter with five straight points, then helped key a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter, and the Nokomis lead was down to 36-34 with 5:20 remaining.
Medomak also put on a hyperactive trapping press at the outset of the fourth quarter, and Nokomis started panicking.
“We needed to be in control of where we were going to go,” Nokomis Coach Kori Dionne said, “and I felt like we were backing off and not doing that.”
Nokomis settled down and didn’t give up the lead.
Vose fouled out with 3:31 left and Medomak trailing 38-36, and Julie Smith and her teammates took care of business at the line. Smith made 6 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 of her 13 points from the line.
“Our rally in the fourth quarter is something (my players) will remember for the rest of their lives, but we couldn’t quite get over the hump,” said Medomak Coach Randy Hooper.
Freshman Kylie Richards didn’t play for most of the second half but was a huge factor in the first. As Marissa Shaw, Kelsie Richards and Emilee Reynolds went to the bench because of foul trouble, Kylie Richards scored 12 first-half points to help Nokomis build a 22-16 halftime lead.
While Nokomis was still moving the ball and getting good shots with three starters on the bench, Medomak could not take advantage at the other end of the floor. Medomak’s 6-foot-2 Ericka Christensen got 11 of her 15 points in the first half, but Nokomis outscored Medomak 17-10 with Shaw on the bench.
“We just weren’t able to score,” Hooper said. “They make you work for everything that you get. Even though you think it would be easier to enter it into the post, if the kids on the wings all have their heads down and are trying to put it to the floor because they’re under pressure, it’s hard to even see into the post.”
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