Staff Writer
BANGOR – “It was hectic.” Senior Central Aroostook center Sarah Long could find no other word to describe the Woodland defensive attack in the Eastern Maine Class D semifinal. Long carried the Panthers with the game-high 22 points in attempts to send her team into the final, but the Woodland pressure proved too much as the game ended with the Dragons moving on, 38-33.
Woodland’s junior Julia Nicholas put the Dragons on the scoreboard first, but the purple team didn’t take the time to celebrate and quickly pasted themselves to Central Aroostook’s Amber Bradley and Kayla Day attempting to bring the ball to their end of the court.
Defense on both sides kept the game in single-digits the first quarter to end, 8-6 Woodland.
The aggressive-style Dragon defense put Panthers on the line 10 times during the first two quarters, but the CAHS girls had trouble getting their free throws to fall and fell behind to 23-11 at halftime.
“We missed 15 foul shots in the first half and that really lost the game for us,” said Panther head coach Rod Codrey.
CAHS turned up the tempo in the second half, and kept Woodland’s big shooter Courtney Cochran from contributing too much. “We played a 1-3-1 zone to keep the Cochran girl down, but we just had too many turnovers,” said Codrey.
In the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Panthers attempted to set Bradley up for a three-pointer to keep them in the game with a tie, but the play failed under the unwavering Woodland defense.
The Central Aroostook girls’ varsity basketball team ended with a 17-3 record and graduates Long, Bradley, Day, Robyn Graham, Lisa Mean and Alex Dame.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson
PANTHER SARAH LONG prepares to make a pass to a team member during the Eastern Maine Class D semifinal.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson
AMBER BRADLEY puts up a shot for CAHS during their semifinal against Woodland.
