It will be an all-Aroostook County Class D North girls semifinal game on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Second seed Central Aroostook and third seed Wisdom of St. Agatha advanced with quarterfinal wins at the Cross Center on Saturday morning.
Central Aroostook beat 10th seed Jonesport-Beals 56-42 while Wisdom had to come from behind to earn a 45-36 victory over sixth seed Ashland.
It will be Central Aroostook’s first trip to the semifinals since 2016 while Wisdom is making its fourth consecutive semifinal round appearance and will be seeking a third regional title game berth in four years.
Sophomore guard Lilly Burtt and junior guard Harleigh Allen each poured in 20 points and combined to make 19 steals to lead 17-2 Central Aroostook to its 11th win over its last 12 games.
Jonesport-Beals finished up at 9-11.
Central Aroostook’s full-court press forced a ton of Jonesport-Beals turnovers, including a bunch off Jonesport-Beals inbounds passes after CA had scored.
“Our press is really effective,” said Burtt. “It helps our team get easy baskets off quick transitions.”
“Defense is what won this game, not offense,” said Central Aroostook coach Cody Tompkins. “Harleigh, Lilly, Stevi [Pierce] and Maggie [Mahan] have been at the top of the diamond [press] all year long and have done a really good job staying compressed, looking for the trap and making sure they take away one pass.
“I thought they did it the best they’ve done it all year long today,” added Tompkins.
“We’ve been practicing a lot on our press,” said Allen. “It’s good to finally have a really good day on our press.”
The Panthers rattled off a 15-0 run in the first quarter to take a 17-4 lead and they took a 32-17 lead into the intermission.
Allen hit a pair of 3-pointers during the spurt and Burtt capped it with a steal and a layup.
Central Aroostook sewed up the win by scoring the last 17 points of the third period to expand its lead to 52-21.
Burtt had 11 rebounds, 10 steals and three assists to accompany her 20 points and Allen had nine steals and eight rebounds to go with her 20 points. Junior Mahan produced eight points, four rebounds and four steals.
Jonesport-Beals junior guard Mia Mills had a game-high 23 points including 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. She also had three steals. Junior forward Riley Balicki had eight points and 11 rebounds and senior Brenna Alley scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds.
In the opener at the Cross Center on Saturday, Wisdom junior guard Ava Lerman pumped in a game-high 22 points including a terrific 18-for-20 showing from the free throw line as the Pioneers outscored youthful Ashland 26-10 in the second half to erase a seven-point halftime deficit.
Wisdom is now 17-2 and has 14 wins in its last 15 games.
Ashland wound up 13-7.
“Free throws are something I’ve been working on,” said Lerman. “When it comes down to crunch time, they’re one of the most important things you do on the court.”
“That was amazing. I’m very thankful I make them shoot a lot of free throws during practice,” grinned Wisdom coach Kayla Dionne.
Sophomore guard Emma Soucy, who was held scoreless in the first half, had eight points in the third period including a pair of 3-pointers that pulled the Pioneers even at 31.
Wisdom outscored Ashland 12-5 in the period.
“We were down so I felt I had to pick it up and contribute,” said Soucy.
“She is usually our defensive sparkplug but she is really sick right now,” said Dionne. “So for her to come off the bench the way she was feeling and out and put up those eight points when we needed it. That sparked our intensity.”
The teams swapped baskets in the fourth quarter before Lerman gave them the lead for good by splitting defenders and converting a layup with 2:36 left. She was also fouled and made the free throw to make it 38-35.
Sadie Trams sank one of two free throws with 1:20 remaining to make it 38-36 but that was the last point the Hornets would score as they went cold from the floor, making just two of their 13 field goal attempts over the final eight minutes.
Madi Cyr hit a pair of free throws with 1:07 left to extend the lead to 40-26 and Lerman hit two more 15 seconds later to all but clinch the win.
Cyr added another free throw and Lerman hit two more to close out the game.
Lerman had five rebounds and three steals to go with her 22 points and Soucy finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Eighth-grader Peyton Roy wound up with eight points and nine rebounds.
Freshman guard Addison LaBelle turned in an exceptional performance for the Hornets.
The tireless LaBelle scored 19 points and hauled down a game-high 14 rebounds. She also had three steals.
Eighth-grader Trams notched 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds and made four steals.
