AUGUSTA — The Skowhegan girls’ basketball team needed another comeback, but it couldn’t get one this time.

Kory Norcross and Ashlee Arnold each scored 12 points, and second-seeded Edward Little beat Skowhegan 54-34 in an Eastern Class A semifinal Wednesday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center.

Edward Little will play Cony in the regional final at 7:05 p.m. Friday.

“We just couldn’t get into a rhythm,” said Skowhegan senior guard Amanda Johnson, who missed her first 10 shots and finished with seven points. “It’s frustrating.”

Kate Sawyer scored 11 points, including nine in the second half, and Brooke Reynolds added 10 for Edward Little (17-3), which opened the second half with a 12-2 run to break open what was a four-point game at halftime.

“We came out really motivated,” Arnold said. “We stepped it up. We’re just so excited. We’re so pumped to go to the final.”

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AJ Martineau and Cheyenne Malloy each scored eight points to lead Skowhegan, which erased a 17-point second-half deficit against Mt. Blue in the quarterfinals.

The No. 6 Indians (12-8) led just twice.

“We were still in the basketball game at the half,” Skowhegan Coach Heath Cowan said. “Hats off to EL. They were the better team today.”

Johnson just couldn’t get it going early, although the Eddies played a part in her struggles.
Forced to take tough shots, Johnson was held scoreless in the first half.

“I was having a hard time with my shot,” she said. “We couldn’t get into any rhythm. But we had come back from 17 down before, so we thought coming back from four would be easy to do.”
It wasn’t.

The Eddies took control in the third quarter, thanks to Norcross and Reynolds, who each scored four points in the 12-2 run.

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The Indians pulled to within 37-27 early in the fourth quarter, but again the Eddies answered.
Sawyer led the charge in the fourth, scoring five points, including a three-point play on a steal and layup.

“It was frustrating because you felt kind of helpless,” said Johnson, who scored her first points of the game with 2:54 left in the third quarter and the Indians trailing 31-17. “You felt you couldn’t do anything.”

Added Cowan: “She was trying to get it done to help her team. You can’t fault her.”

The Indians struggled early in the first half but still managed to prevent the Red Eddies from pulling away.

Edward Little led 19-9 late in the second quarter, but Skowhegan rallied with Johnson on the bench.
Malloy hit a jump shot and then buried a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:30 left in the half to make it 19-14. Skowhegan then forced another turnover, and Natasha Thompson made a free throw after she was fouled while grabbing an offensive rebound.

“Our goal was to stop Amanda Johnson, and we did that,” Arnold said. “We were a little nervous at the half but then we just got relaxed. We came out pumped up.”

Bill Stewart — 621-5640
bstewart@centralmaine.com


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