BANGOR — Throughout the season, the hallmarks of the Winslow girls’ basketball team were defense and depth. Friday night at Cross Insurance Center, those strengths helped lead the Black Raiders to the Class B state title with a 43-29 win over Lake Region.

“I knew that this team was a great team, and I wanted to be a part of it. We work hard every single day and we deserve this,” said Winslow senior Haley Ward, who scored a team-high 12 points.

Winslow trailed for just 1:04 before it took the lead for good midway through the first quarter. Winslow (18-5) won its first Gold Ball since 2005.

Playing in its seventh state championship game in 14 years, Lake Region finished 16-6.

Even with a double-digit lead, Winslow Coach Lindsey Withee didn’t feel the game was in hand until the final minute.

“I just looked up and there was 53 (seconds), and I kind of could feel it,” Withee said.

Winslow played excellent man-to-man defense, holding Chandler True, the Lakers’ leading scorer, without a field goal until midway through the third quarter. True finished with 12 points, nine in the second half. Lake Region’s inside threat, Lauren Jakobs, got into foul trouble early in the second quarter and finished with seven points.

“She’s a game-changer for us. She’s got to be on the floor. She’s one of our leaders,” Lake Region Coach Paul True said of Jakobs.

“With that said, she had two fouls (so) she sat for more than half the quarter, (but) it was still a manageable game, I thought. It comes down to making shots, and we just couldn’t do that tonight.”

With Jakobs on the bench, Winslow made a concerted effort to attack the basket more. Winslow led 20-11 at halftime.

The Black Raiders’ depth was on display in the first half. Of Winslow’s 20 first-half points, 11 came from reserve players. Silver Clukey scored five of her eight points in the second quarter, and Maddy Roy hit a 3-pointer late in the first quarter.

“We always had consistent scoring from a couple of them. Silver Clukey (and) Maddy Roy (gave) us a spark off the bench tonight,” Withee said.

“They’ve accepted their role and realizing, hey we need you to come in and be a game-changer, getting a quick rebound or a steal or scoring a quick basket.”

Added True: “We had to guard everybody. We had to contest every shot. They’re a difficult ballclub to defend because you can’t really key on that one person.”

Lake Region never could find an offensive rhythm. The Lakers’ longest scoring run was three points.

“I thought Winslow did a nice job not allowing us to get second-chance opportunities, and we just couldn’t string together a couple of scores,” True said.

“We knew they wanted to get to the rim,” Ward said. “We knew they had some shooters. You’ve got to find a happy medium of help side and getting a hand up and contesting their jump shots. I think we found that.”

The Black Raiders pushed their lead to 28-16 after three quarters and maintained their advantage despite making one field goal in the fourth. Winslow was 13 of 19 at the free-throw line in the final eight minutes.

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