Panther girls overcome opening-round jitters
to beat Woodland, 34-29
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR — A sluggish start was not exactly what Central Aroostook girls basketball coach Stori Shaw was hoping for when her squad took to the floor of the Bangor Auditorium Monday.
BALL BATTLE — Central Aroostook’s Vicky McIntyre, 
right, fights with Woodland’s Jessica Moreside for the loose ball during Monday’s Eastern Class D quarterfinal in Bangor. McIntyre led the team with 20 points as the Panthers won 34-29.
Fortunately, No. 3 Central Aroostook (15-4 overall) managed to overcome its slow start to pull out a thrilling 34-29 victory over No. 6 Woodland (13-7) in Monday’s Eastern Class D quarterfinal.
With the win, the Panthers advance to Thursday’s semi-final round, where they will face No. 7 Hodgdon (13-7) at 7:05 p.m. Hodgdon advanced to the semifinals with a 39-34 victory over No. 15 Southern Aroostook, in a game also played Monday.
“There are 32 minutes in the game and I don’t think we came to play until minute 28,” Shaw said. “It wasn’t the fact that it was a morning game, because they love to have early morning practices. We were all up at 6 a.m. ready to go.”
For the Panthers, Vicky McIntyre led the way with 20 points, while Kayla Cushman added seven. Whitney Bassett led the Dragons with 10 points, while Araceli Garcia chipped in eight.
Woodland scored the game’s first five points, as CAHS was ice-cold from the floor. The Dragons nursed a 7-4 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter featured much of the same as the Panthers continued to struggle with their shooting. CAHS managed to take its first lead of the game with a 5-0 run midway through the quarter as McIntyre made a pair of free throws, followed by three points by Cushman.
By the end of the first half, the Panthers trailed by just one, 12-11.
Coach Shaw said she gave her team a halftime pep talk that seemed to work, as the team played with renewed energy in the second half.
“I basically told the team that they were too good to go home today,” Shaw said.
That pep talk seemed to work as CAHS outscored Woodland 14-5 in the third period, thanks to 3-point shooting from Rachael Grew and McIntyre, which gave the Panthers a 25-17 lead.
Woodland battled back to make it a close contest in the fourth quarter, opening the period thanks to 3-pointers from Bassett and Garcia that cut the lead to 27-23 with 5:25 to play.
“It was good to get rid of some of the jitters with this game, so hopefully we will be more prepared for the next game,” Shaw said.
During the regular season, the Panthers beat Hodgdon 48-38 on the road and 50-45 at home.
WOODLAND (29)
McArthur 0 1-2 1, Roderick 0 1-2 1, Garcia 3 0-0 8, Bassett 4 0-0 10, Cochran 1 3-3 5, Moreside 1 0-0 2, Newman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 5-7 29. 3-pointers — Garcia 2, Bassett 2.
CENTRAL AROOSTOOK (34)
Cushman 3 1-2 7, York, Fletcher, Grass 2 0-1 4, Grew 1 0-1 3, McIntyre 7 4-4 20. Totals: 13 5-8 34. 3-pointers — McIntyre 2, Grew.
Dragons 7 5 5 12—29
Panthers 4 7 14 9—34
