Fort Fairfield falls to Woodland in girls Class D Championship

16 years ago
By Abigail Hunt
Staff Writer

    The claws came out in Bangor Saturday morning as the Fort Fairfield Lady Tigers met up with the Woodland Lady Dragons to see who would take home the 2009 Eastern Maine Championship Title. The defending Dragons fought to a 49-34 win, but not before the Tigers had left their mark in Bangor and on Woodland.

ImageStaff photo/Abigail Hunt
    Courtney Churchill looks to maintain control on a loose ball as a Southern Aroostook Lady Warrior goes in for the steal. Fort Fairfield took a 53-47 win over Southern Aroostook in Class D semifinal game last Thursday.
    Woodland all but begged Fort Fairfield to do their worst, as the Lady Dragons overly aggressive defense took the court. But a basket by Amanda Hotham in the first two minutes of play quieted Dragon fans down. A quick layup by  Molly White evened out the score as Ariel Knights gave Woodland their first of many fouls.
    Another two baskets by Julia Nichols and Ashley Laking allotted Woodland a 6-2 lead, but senior Whitney Clark sank two effortless free throws off a foul by Molly White, and Fort Fairfield took the lead again after two baskets from Hotham and Kelsie Wilson. As the game headed into the second quarter, Taylor Cochran sank a foul shot off a call on Whitney Clark to tie the game, and a basket by White pulled Woodland ahead 10-8.
    Hotham took control as the second quarter began, stepping up to the line after being fouled by Cochran. Two shots tied the game and Hotham pulled Fort Fairfield ahead after a steal and layup.
    This early lead and strong determination shook Woodland up as the Dragons struggled to regain control, but gave possession back to the Tigers after back-to-back calls for traveling and carrying.
    Dragon Kelsey Burtt stepped up for two, but then fouled Hotham as the Tiger freshman went up for a shot. Hotham took the lead again for Fort with her foul shot but Julia Nicholas responded with a basket of her own. With halftime looming, Woodland was ahead 20-17 despite Cochran’s two missed free throws, but Hotham put one in again and the teams stopped at the half 20-19, Woodland.
    The Dragons wasted no time fouling themselves back into the second half, as Burtt took her fourth foul early in the quarter. Play stopped as junior Courtney Churchill left the court to bandage a bloody knee and Whitney Clark put one in for Fort. But Woodland took advantage of the two point lead and broke ahead 30-23. Kaitlyn McLaughlin’s final third-quarter shot brought the score to 30-25, Dragons still ahead.
    As the game moved into the final quarter, Fort Fairfield seemed void of strength, but continued to pour any last energy into the game. Woodland allowed the Tigers four points, while they put in another eight and the break the Dragons had been looking for came midway through the fourth. Amber Forsman brought the game to a 38-31 difference, and a foul shot by Clark and free throw from Churchill gave Fort Fairfield their final 34 points, but not before Woodland had made it to 45.
    Hotham, though a freshman, has seen much time on the court and will take much away from this first season. “I’m feeling pretty good [about the year] but I think I need to spend more time working on pressure.” One of the best part’s of Hotham’s experience has been the influence of Tiger coach Larry Gardner
     “It’s been amazing. He’s really good and if I do something wrong, he never gets mad. He’s a great coach.”
    And for coach Gardner, the feelings are mutual. “I’m extrememly proud of this team. No one would have thought we’d be playing here. The kids have worked extremely hard and they’re a great bunch on and off the court. I’m so proud of them.”
    And though Fort Fairfield will miss this year’s seniors, the Lady Tigers boast a bench full of potential. “ I think things are looking pretty good for us over the next few years,” said Gardner.
    The Lady Tigers took an early win last week to get them to the 2009 Eastern Maine Championship when they beat Southern Aroostook.
    A defensive scheme of changing zones stymied the Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors in the Class D semifinals last Thursday night at the Bangor Auditorium. The Fort Fairfield Tigers executed to perfection switching 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone defenses to keep the Lady Warriors off balance through the first half of the ballgame.
    The Lady Tigers mirrored the usual style of Southern Aroostook-defensive pressure leading to transition points. The Lady Warriors trailed 8-6 after Lauren McGary baseline shot, but Evangeline Goodall’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds to go in the opening period gave SACS their only lead of the game, 11-10.
    But then the Lady Tigers used a 20-5 scoring surge behind Churchill’s 12 points  — 10 off fast breaks — and Hotham’s 6-for-6 first half free throw shooting to forge a 30-16 halftime lead. The Lady Warriors were frustrated offensively scoring just two field goals.
    Fort Fairfield started the third period in the same style they left off the first half, building a 20-point lead on a Clark 3-pointer, 36-16 with just over six minutes in the quarter. But the Lady Warriors mounted a comeback, started by Liz Goodall draining a 3-pointer to spark her team to a 15-0 run in the last five minutes of the third quarter.
    The Lady Warriors responded with Brittany Charette’s baseline shot, followed by Goodall’s set shot on a nifty behind-the-back pass back out to Goodall on the wing, a Rochelle Nadeau free throw and five points from Evangeline Goodall, including a 3-point field goal with 2:48 left in the third.
    The scoring swell ended where it began with Liz Goodall driving to the hoop to draw the Lady Warriors to within five points, 36-31.
    The Lady Tigers used a 10-0 spurt over the end of third to midway through the fourth to engineer a 15-point lead. The Lady Warriors wouldn’t quit, as they mounted their last rally of the game behind seniors Charette and Liz Bergan in the last four minutes of play.
    After Evangeline Goodall hit from the baseline, Charette brought SACS to within eight points, 52-40 with two minutes left. Bergan went to work with an offensive follow up, a steal, a free throw and another offensive put back to cut the lead to 53-47 with 43 seconds to go, but that was all the offense the Lady Warriors could muster as time ran out.
    Churchill scored 16 points, while Hotham had 13 points, going 9-for-10 from the line and hitting two field goals. Clark tossed in eight points and Kaitlyn McLaughlin knocked down seven points.
    Churchill, who fouled out before the end of the game, had been ill the few days prior and found her motivation in the Fort Fairfield boys unexpected loss. “The boys are done, and we have to carry them on. And, it’s been so long since the girls’ team has amde it this far,” said Churchill after the game.
    So long, in fact, that Saturday’s game marked the second time the  Fort Fairfield girls made it to the Championship since 1973, remarked Gardner after the game.
    The Fort Fairfield girls may not have won the title this year, but they’ve made history for their school in journeying as far as they did.