Staff Writer
The Presque Isle girls fell to John Bapst in the semifinals in Bangor last Wednesday afternoon with a final score of 37-26. At the end of the first quarter, the Lady Wildcats still had a chance to pull ahead as they trailed John Bapst only 7-2. But the Lady Crusaders had a visible height advantage, with 6’11” senior guard Samantha Gormley leading the court.
Sarah Porter began the second half with a foul on Crusader Morgan Chasse. Presque Isle kept close with two successful free throws from Chelsea Nickerson and a much needed 3-point goal from Caitlyn Esancy which moved Presque Isle fans to their feet as the teams headed into the third 14-7, John Bapst.
Porter stepped up first for Presque Isle, sinking her first 3-pointer and narrowing the gap significantly with another one immediately following. A field goal from Hannah Cheney brought the game to a tie at 15 all, but the Lady Wildcats had already acquired three team fouls.
In hopes of closing in on Gormley, Presque Isle began triple-teaming the tall athlete and Hudson sent junior Krista Coffin in to help on defense. If Gormley had been any good from the foul line that quarter, she would have given the Crusaders a bigger lead, but, after Coffin fouled her twice, Gormley only put in one of four shots and with 1:03 left in the third, Presque Isle had already committed five team fouls.
It seemed both teams would head into the fourth with John Bapst ahead 20-19, but a 3-point buzzer shot by Gormley put the Crusaders ahead by four as the final eight minutes commenced.
The Lady Crusaders were slow to start in the fourth as the Lady Wildcats held their opponents at 23 for the first two minutes of the quarter. An early basket from Esancy meant Presque Isle trailed by two, 23-21 and with a huge 3-point goal, Nickerson gave the Wildcats the lead they had been looking for all afternoon. But not before she and freshman guard Kayla Richards gave the team their sixth and seventh fouls.
With a one-and-one foul shot advantage on their side, the Lady Crusaders quickly took back control, stepping up to the foul line 10 times in the fourth quarter alone, shooting 13 for 19 and quickly distancing themselves from Presque Isle.
With 1:20 left in regulation time, Nickerson fouled out, leaving the Wildcats trailing the Crusaders 34-26. With a total of 17 team fouls in the fourth quarter, Presque Isle had little chance of recovering and headed back home with a 37-26 loss.
Porter and Nickerson finished the game with 12 and seven points respectively, and despite the season-ending loss, Wildcat coach Jeff Hudson felt his kids played hard.
“We did a good job and forced [Bapst] to make shots from the outside,” he said, pointing out that a tough defense runs the risk of being called for fouls. “If you’re guarding Gormley, you need to be physical with her. [Bapst] made a lot of foul shots at the end of the game and we were fouling whether it be on purpose or just in going after the ball. We did what we had to do,” he said.
For Wildcat seniors Brittany Bearden, Kayla Legassie, Porter, Cheney and Esancy, this season marks the end of their high school basketball career.
Still, Hudson’s bench boasts some relatively young but skilled athletes, especially Richards, who is a freshman. “We’ve known about Kayla since she was 3 years old,” smiled Hudson. “She made things happen this year and she’s going to get better and better. There are some good things for Presque Isle on the horizon.”
The Lady Wildcats finished their season 16-5.
Staff photo/Abigail Hunt
FRESHMAN KAYLA RICHARDS puts the ball away in Presque Isle’s semifinal game against John Bapst. The Wildcats fell to the Crusaders 37-26 but Richards will be back next season to lead the Lady Wildcats.