The Lake Region girls’ basketball team scored the game’s final five points to edge Yarmouth 32-31 in a Class B South quarterfinal Tuesday morning at the Portland Expo.
The ending was controversial. With the score tied and 16.9 seconds remaining, the Lakers were awarded possession after a held ball, but possession should have gone to Yarmouth. MPA rules state that once the ball is inbounded and the clock starts, the mistake cannot be corrected.
The Lakers’ Chandler True drew a shooting foul with 3.3 seconds to play. After missing the first attempt, she knocked down the second to give Lake Region a 32-31 lead.
“We lost time and we lost possession,” said Yarmouth Coach Christina Strong. “It’s devastating – the girls really executed tonight and played great defense, and kept possessions down and kept second shots down. I couldn’t have asked for more defensively, so this is just a tough, emotional loss for us.”
Lake Region advances to play No. 2 Gray-New Gloucester in a semifinal at 2 p.m. Thursday at Cross Insurance Arena.
“My heart breaks for Yarmouth, as I told them,” said Lake Region Coach Paul True. “That’s a terrible situation in a tournament game and I just feel very badly for their coaching staff and kids.”
Lauren Jakobs led Lake Region with nine points and 11 rebounds. Spencer True added eight points and Chandler True scored six.
Yarmouth finished its season at 9-10. Cory Langenbach scored 11 points and Claire Brady had nine – on three 3-pointers – to go with four blocks for the Clippers. Johanna Hattan chipped in seven points, five rebounds, three blocks and three assists as Yarmouth lost to Lake Region for the third time this season.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team, because we really just went out and played a complete game of basketball,” said Strong. “These girls weren’t just out there trying to get from point A to B, they were really focused on playing their best game, and I think they did that.”
The Clippers took an early lead, using a trio of 3-pointers – two from Brady, a freshman – to grab an 11-6 lead after one quarter. Hattan added five points, including a 3-pointer of her own.
“It didn’t take too long for us to decide to switch from our zone to man-to-man,” said Paul True. “We came out in the zone in the second, third and fourth quarters, but give credit to Yarmouth. To come out in a venue like this and shoot like that right from the beginning is impressive.”
Added Strong: “We really thought (Lake Region) was going to try to limit Alison (Clark) in the low post, so those 3s were important for us to get her some easier looks. They made the switch on defense and did a really good job of taking away our open chances outside.”
The teams combined to score 14 points in the second quarter. Spencer True had five points in the quarter, but the Lakers still trailed at halftime, 17-13.
Aided by three points each from Spencer True and Jakobs in the third quarter, the Lakers outscored the Clippers 10-9.
Lake Region used a lock-down defense in the final quarter to make the comeback possible. The Lakers held Yarmouth to five points – all of which were scored by Langenbach.
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