AUGUSTA — Top-seeded Greenville took care of business Saturday afternoon, even if there wasn’t much for the Lakers to love about their performance. Luckily for the senior-laden team, they had enough veteran savvy to claim a second consecutive Class D South championship.
Jessica Pomerleau scored 10 of her 19 points after halftime, leading No. 1 Greenville to a 45-22 victory over No. 3 Valley at the Augusta Civic Center. Greenville (19-2) will meet Southern Aroostook in the state final next Saturday in Augusta.
“I was crying,” said Pomerleau, one of six seniors on Greenville’s nine-player roster. “I’m really excited. I’m really excited about next week, too. It’s going to be a hard task, but I can’t wait to just continue and have one more chance at it.”
Supported by a 13-point day from Bianca Breton and a six-point, 11-rebound effort from tournament MVP Halle Pelletier, Pomerleau’s energy helped kick the Lakers into gear. After Greenville shot just 26 percent in a first half that ended with a 16-1 run to create separation, Pomerleau made four of her six shots over the final two quarters.
“She’s our little spark plug,” Greenville Coach Maren Mason said of Pomerleau. “We really look to her to fire us up. She’s our big transition scorer. When she leaks, we can make things happen. When they switched to man-to-man (defense), that’s exactly what happened today. She was able to really get us back in the game.”
“I felt like going into the locker room at halftime, we really had to step it up because it wasn’t how we’re used to playing,” Pomerleau said. “We tried to work our offense quicker and get them off balance … and then we wanted to spread it out and get as many easy layups as we could.”
It worked.
Valley Coach Paul Belanger counted 22 Greenville points off uncontested layups, the majority of those in the second half.
“We made some unforced errors at the top they picked off,” Belanger said. “They were experienced, and I think our nerves got in there a little bit.”
The game was tied 7-7 with 1:45 remaining in the first quarter before Greenville went on its big run to take a 23-8 lead into the break. Emily Collins’ 3-pointer with 2:55 left in the third quarter ended a drought of nearly 15 minutes without a field goal for Valley (10-11).
Collins led the Cavaliers with 10 points.
The Cavaliers committed 18 turnovers in the first half and finished with 27 for the game.
“We were in foul trouble and some of the bench players had to come in,” Belanger said. “We missed a lot of early layups, too, and I think if we put some of those in, it would put more pressure on them and then the game changes. We played hard, but we did have a few too many unforced turnovers.
“A young team, you kind of expect that.”
That lack of care with the ball at one end of the floor provided the lift Greenville was looking for at the other end. Though they may not have shot the lights out, the Lakers still gave themselves plenty of opportunities by giving the ball away needlessly only a handful of times.
There were only eight Greenville turnovers, but the Lakers know they can play better.
“It wasn’t very smooth,” Mason said. “We haven’t played our best basketball this week. Between injuries and illness, we’re hopeful that another week of practice and another big game next weekend will bring the girls to life again.
“I know our style of play is much better than what we’ve shown this week. The girls know it, too.”
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