Fort Fairfield declaws Panthers to claim first Eastern Maine title
Sports Reporter
BANGOR – With three starters back from last year’s team that made it all the way to the Eastern Maine finals, 12th-year coach Larry Gardner had high aspirations for this year’s squad.
Those aspirations were met with the school’s first-ever regional championship after Fort Fairfield bested Central Aroostook in Saturday’s title game, 50-38.
“It’s pretty special,” said Gardner during the post-game celebration.
It was actually the third time Gardner has led a Fort Fairfield team to an EM title. His first two were during his nine-year run at the helm of the boys’ team, with those teams winning in 1984 and 1988. Now it was the girls’ turn.
“A lot of it is teamwork and that we’re all friends,” sophomore Amanda Hotham said of the ingredients to winning a championship. “We’re a little basketball family I guess.”
Hotham led the charge for Fort Fairfield by scoring 33 points and she set two tournament records in the process. She made 15 free throws (out of 17 attempts) to break the Class D mark of 14 previously set by Shead’s Sara Ricker in 1999. Her total of 35 free throws during the three tournament games also established a new mark, regardless of class. The two previous record-holders were Kari Anna Pelletier of Class A Oxford Hills in 2008 and Stephanie Carter of Class C Schenck in 1988.
“She’s the horse of the team,” said senior co-captain Kelsie Wilson of Hotham. “She can do anything. She will take it to the basket, even if she breaks an arm or a leg, she’s going to go. And for being a sophomore, she’s a really good team leader.”
Just as she had throughout the playoffs, Hotham was able to make things happen when she got the ball inside. If she wasn’t hitting the shots (she went 9 of 16 from the field), she was getting fouled and cashing in at the foul line.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates for passing me the ball,” Hotham said.
Central Aroostook, playing without the services of starting senior guards Chelsea and Brianna Hartin (see related story), stayed in contention heading into the final period. In the first quarter, sophomore forward Vicki McInytre banged in a pair of three-point field goals to give her team an 11-10 advantage. Hotham scored eight of Fort’s 10 points to keep her team close.
At that point, the Tigers went out of their 2-3 zone and switched to a triangle-and-two, with Kelsie Wilson responsible for guarding McIntyre and Danielle Tracy getting the assignment on Grew. Fort’s other three players played a zone. It worked well, as McIntyre was limited to seven points over the final three quarters and Grew toust four in the game.
“My whole role on defense is to face guard. I kept my composure, tried not to foul, worked hard and didn’t stop. My mindset was to not let [McIntyre] touch the ball,” Wilson said.
Central Aroostook still managed to move ahead by eight points early in the second quarter, thanks mainly to a 7-0 run spearheaded by McIntyre’s three-point play and a 15-foot jumper by freshman reserve Kayla Cushman.
Fort than proceeded to score 11 unanswered points, with Hotham going 4 for 4 from the line and Tracy firing in a three-point field goal to surge the rally. A three-pointer by Sydney Churchill with just over a minute left in the second made it 28-22 in favor of Fort Fairfield at intermission.
The Tigers maintained a lead of between three and seven points during the third quarter, with Kristen Long scoring consecutive baskets, Grew hitting a baseline jumper and Cushman netting two foul shots to key CA’s offense, and Beaulieu and Hotham doing most of the work on the Tiger end.
Fort Fairfield finally took over in the final period, scoring the first eight points to surge ahead, 43-32, with four minutes to play. Hotham scored six of the points. Olivia Garrison’s offensive rebound and putback with 3:01 left broke the streak, but Central Aroostook mustered just two more points until a buzzer-beating McIntyre layup closed out the scoring.
“They were using a box-and-one on Amanda, but we still tried to get the ball inside to her,” Gardner said. “We did a real nice job on the boards overall and kept our composure.”
Hotham gathered 14 rebounds and Beaulieu had eight points.
Central Arooostook got a total of 14 points from its two new starters – Garrison (four points) and Sarah Grass (four points) – and its other bench players.
“I can’t fault my girls for anything,” said CA coach Rod Codrey, whose team had its 18-game winning streak come to an end with the loss. “I think they did a wonderful job and I am very proud of them.”
It was the third meeting of the season between the two teams. Fort Fairfield won at home on Dec. 5, 44-42, while Central Aroostook won on its home floor Jan. 27, 51-27.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
WHAT A FEELING – Kelsie Wilson, a senior co-captain on the Fort Fairfield Tigers, cuts down the net and displays it to the fans following Saturday’s Eastern Maine championship game victory over Central Aroostook at the Bangor Auditorium.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
SQUEEZED OUT – She’s difficult to see, but it is Fort Fairfield’a Amanda Hotham with the ball trying to force up a shot between CA defenders Vicki McInytre, left, and Kristen Long (30), while Tiger teammate Brooke Beaulieu (42) is also in on the play during Saturday’s game in Bangor. Fort prevailed, 50-38.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
LOOSE BALL – Amanda Hotham of the Fort Fairfield Tigers, left, and Olivia Garrison of CA battle for a rebound Saturday.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr 
SCRAMBLE – Fort Fairfield’s Danielle Tracy has the inside track on gaining possession, while CA’s Kristen Long also fights for the ball during Saturday’s EM Class D title game in Bangor.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
ALL SMILES – Co-captains Kelsie Wilson, left, and Courtney Churchill celebrate Saturday’s Class D championship victory.
