Skowhegan senior Jaycie Christopher blocks a shot from Hope Bouchard of Lawrence during the Class A North final Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
AUGUSTA — Jaycie Christopher scored 24 points as top-ranked Skowhegan won the Class A North girls’ basketball championship Saturday night with a 44-30 victory over third-seeded Lawrence at the Augusta Civic Center.
It’s Skowhegan’s first regional title since 2010.
Callaway LePage scored six points and had seven rebounds for Skowhegan (21-0).
Brianna Poulin led Lawrence (17-4) with 11 points.
Christopher got off to a fast start, scoring 10 points in the first quarter as the River Hawks jumped out to a 14-7 lead.
A Christopher 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer made it 23-12.
HERMON 45, OLD TOWN 30: The second-seeded Hawks (19-2) made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter while holding the No. 1 Coyotes (20-2) to three points as they rallied to win the Class B North championship at Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center.
Faith Coombs hit a pair of 3-pointers and Maddie Lebel went 7 for 8 at the line as Hermon outscored Old Town 20-3 in the final eight minutes.
Lebel finished with 13 points and Elizabeth Wyman scored 11 for Hermon, which will play Oceanside in the state final Friday night in Bangor.
Madelynn Emerson led Old Town with nine points.
SOUTHERN AROOSTOOK 59, WISDOM 26: Cami Shields scored nine of her 12 points in the first quarter, and Madison Russell got nine of her 16 points in the third as the top-seeded Warriors (21-0) routed the second-seeded Pioneers (17-2) to win their fourth consecutive Class D North championship.
Southern Aroostook, the state champion in 2018 and 2019 and the runner-up in 2020, led 19-8 after one quarter and 28-16 at halftime. The Warriors then pulled away in the second half by holding Wisdom to 10 points. A 14-2 advantage in the third quarter extended the margin to 42-18.
Emmalee Landry chipped in with 13 points for the Warriors.
Abbie Lerman led Wisdom with eight points.
STEARNS 50, HODGDON 35: Alisyn Alley scored 19 points, Mikayla Anderson and Kelly Farber each added 11, and top-seeded Stearns (15-3) advanced to the Class C North final with a win over the fourth-seeded Hawks (16-4) in Bangor.
Anna Oliver led Hodgdon with 16 points.
PENOBSCOT VALLEY 28, DEXTER 15: The third-seeded Howlers (17-3) held No. 7 Dexter (12-7) to one field goal in the first half and five for the entire game as they won a Class C North semifinal in Bangor.
Ellie Austin scored 12 points and Kaya Loring had nine for the Howlers, who clinched the victory by making 7 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
Teammates celebrate with Dirigo’s Charlie Houghton after the Cougars beat Monmouth Academy on Saturday to win the Class C South boys’ basketball championship at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
DIRIGO 45, MONMOUTH ACADEMY 39: The third-seeded Cougars (17-5) used a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter to rally past the No. 5 Mustangs (13-5) in the Class C South final at the Augusta Civic Center.
Dirigo will play for the state championship at 7:45 p.m. next Saturday at the Civic Center.
Charlie Houghton led Dirigo with 15 points, while Dakota Tompkins added 11.
Monmouth’s Sammy Calder 20 points. Hunter Frost had eight.
Monmouth held a 35-26 lead entering the fourth quarter, but then Dirigo outscored the Mustangs 19-4 in the final eight minutes.
“We looked at our only senior, Wyatt Smith, and we said, ‘We’re not going to let this be your last game,’” Houghton said. “We went out there and played as hard as we could. We all just kind of took over and just played team ball like we have been doing.”
Smith made the play of the game with just over a minute left. Dirigo led 41-39 when Monmouth’s Hunter Frost made a steal and looked almost certain to break away and tie the game with a layup. Smith stole the ball back, however, then passed to Trenton Hutchinson for a layup.
“I attribute that win – 90 percent of that win – to Wyatt Smith,” said Dirigo Coach Cody St. Germain. “Put him back on the floor in the fourth quarter, he’s our one senior on the team. I think when I watch the (game) film, I’ll be even more surprised how many big plays he made, but every time you needed a play, whether it was a steal or rebound, assist … .
“I don’t think he scored in the quarter, but just everything else that he brings to us is just phenomenal.”
FOREST HILLS 78, VALLEY 38: Top-ranked Forest Hills (21-0) won its third straight Class D South title, riding 28 points from tournament MVP Mason Desjardins and 20 from Braidan Welch to a victory over second-seeded Valley (12-5) at the Augusta Civic Center.
The Tigers will play for a third consecutive state championship next Saturday against Southern Aroostook, which beat Machias for the North title.
Forest Hills’ frenzied offense and defense was effective early. Valley committed 12 turnovers in the first quarter and 13 in the second as the Tigers opened up leads of 18-7 after eight minutes and 42-23 by halftime.
Welch was the tone-setter, with four steals and three 3-pointers in the first quarter, keying a 16-2 run. He had 17 first-half points.
Jackman Daigle contributed 15 points and freshman Blaine Nadeau added 11.
Valley was led by eighth-graders Harry Lewis and Fisher Tewksbury with nine and eight points, respectively.
ELLSWORTH 62, ORONO 33: Hunter Curtis got eight of his 18 points in the first quarter, starting the top-seeded Eagles (22-0) on their way to a win over the No. 2 Red Riots (18-4) in the Class B North final in Bangor.
Ellsworth led 20-10 after one quarter and 32-19 at halftime, then broke it open with a 15-2 run in the third quarter.
Chance Mercier added 12 points.
Ellis Spaulding paced Orono with 10 points.
SOUTHERN AROOSTOOK 44, MACHIAS 37: The second-seeded Warriors (19-1) held No. 1 Machias (17-1) to six points in the first half, then made 8 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter to close out the Bulldogs in the Class D North final in Bangor.
It’s the first regional title since 1991 for Southern Aroostook, which got 12 points apiece from Dylan Burpee and Hunter Burpee and 10 points from Camden Porter.
Shane Feeney scored 14 points for Machias.
DEXTER 58, FORT KENT 48: Will Kusnierz scored eight of his 22 points in the first quarter as the fourth-seeded Tigers (15-5) raced out to an 18-4 win on the way to a Class C North semifinal win over the top-seeded Warriors (19-2) in Bangor.
Avery Gagnon added 19 points and Seth Robbins had 10 for Dexter.
Fort Kent was led by Ethan Daigle with 12 points.
GEORGE STEVENS 65, CENTRAL 59: Bryce Schneider led four double-figure scorers for second-seeded George Stevens (17-2) with 17 points as the Eagles beat the No. 11 Red Devils (12-9) in a Class C North semifinal.
GSA also got 13 points from David Gadsby, 12 from Patrick Dagan and 11 from Teague Smallidge.
Central’s Simon Allen and Will Libby each made three 3-pointers and combined for 34 points – 18 by Allen. Bryce Burns added 13 points.
Dave Dyer and Drew Bonifant of the Kennebec Journal contributed to this report.
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