Staff Writer
CARIBOU – The Vikings were able to claim a close victory in their home opener Saturday when Brittany Doak threw a baseball pass from under the Bucksport basket to teammate Dayna Michaud, who caught up with the ball and hit a layup with 15 seconds left.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Caribou guard Jamie Martin looks to pass the ball to an open teammate while being guarded by Bucksport’s Kaylie Trasko in Saturday’s game at CHS. The Vikings were 29-27 winners.
The scoring play broke a tie and allowed Caribou to prevail in its home opener, 29-27.
The Vikings actually trailed 15-12 midway through the third quarter before using a 9-0 scoring run over the 4:46 to go up by six points. Jenna Selander hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game and begin the surge, while Alexa Massey also chipped in with a pair of inside buckets along the way.
Selander actually fouled out with 2:25 remaining in the contest and her team up by four at the time, and the Golden Bucks came back to tie the game on two free throws by freshman Kacie Hurd with 17 seconds left. After a timeout, Caribou set up its play with Doak as the trigger person making the inbounds pass and Michaud breaking to the other end of the court, and it worked to perfection.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
Alexa Massey, a freshman for the Caribou Vikings, takes a look at the basket before taking a shot against Bucksport’s Kara Churchill during Saturday’s game, which was won by Caribou, 29-27.
“Brittany threw it far enough and Dayna caught up with it and hit it,” Schofield said of the winning basket. “We said in the huddle that if they were overplaying while denying the inbounds, Dayna was to step in and go long, and that’s what happened.”
Sadie Wright of Bucksport was fouled with three seconds to go, but she missed both ends and Caribou grabbed the rebound on the second miss as time ran out.
Schofield admitted it was a sloppy win, but was pleased with the way his group held on with Selander on the bench.
“We just wanted to run our flex offense and look for a layup,” Schofield said. “The girls executed what we asked them to do.”
Caribou got a strong varsity debut from freshman center Alexa Massey, who came off the bench to score eight points, including a couple clutch hoops in the third quarter.
“We set her on the block out of the flex, and she was our first option and she made two big baskets,” Schofield said.
Selander scored 12 points before fouling out. Doak hit five free throws, all coming in the second half.
Shelby Redman’s eight points were tops for Bucksport.
