By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
BANGOR, Maine — Facing one of the premier players in schoolgirl basketball — Van Buren’s Parise Rossignol — Limestone-MSSM coach Ryan O’Neal knew his squad had a tough task ahead of them.
No. 2 Van Buren (16-4) scored early and often Monday morning en route to a 70-46 victory over the Eagles at the Cross Insurance Center. No. 7 Limestone/MSSM finished its season with a 16-4 record. The Crusaders move on to the semifinals where they will face No. 3 Fort Fairfield 7:05 p.m. Thursday. Fort Fairfield advanced via a 59-54 overtime victory against Penobscot Valley. Melissa Cantafio led the Eagles with 15 points, while Alexis Bell chipped in 12.
Rossignol nearly beat Limestone-MSSM single-handedly as she poured in 43 points. Felicia Bouchard added 12 in the win.
“As well as our prelim started, this game was just about the exact opposite,” coach O’Neal said.
Van Buren bolted to an 18-0 lead in the first quarter and the Eagles never recovered. Coach O’Neal burned two timeouts during that Crusader run in an effort to settle his squad down. Cantafio finally put Limestone-MSSM on the board with 3:25 to play with a pair of free throws.
Van Buren’s hot start had a polar opposite effect on the Eagles, causing the team to tighten up, O’Neal admitted.
“Nothing fell for us today,” O’Neal said. “There was nothing falling outside, so we had to look more at putting the ball inside. Van Buren matched up out of a zone, which didn’t allow our shooters to get open looks to start. And we also struggled to get good penetration.”
Rossignol scored 13 of the team’s 24 first-quarter points, showing she was equally adept at draining long-range jump shots as she was at driving to the hoop. The Eagles tried everything they could think of to slow her down, but nothing seemed to work.
“In the first half, we tried double-teaming (Rossignol), but we didn’t do a good job running off of the screens,” O’Nealsaid. “We were just a half-step late in making the changes. Any time we have tried to press her, we have had little success.”
Limestone-MSSM did a much better job with its defensive intensity in the second half, forcing several turnovers in the backcourt.
The Eagles also showed exceptional precision from the foul line, converting 13 of 16 free throws (81 percent). Van Buren made 18 of 24 foul shots (75 percent).
Coach O’Neal said he was extremely proud of the way his team came out in the second half, outscoring Van Buren 17-9 in the third period.
“They never put their heads down,” O’Neal said. “We just wanted to make sure we left our best effort out there. It’s bittersweet. I have had this group of seniors for seven years. It’s an end of an era.”
