Sixth seed Dexter upended third seed Fort Kent 29-18 in an impressive Class C North win Monday afternoon.
It was Fort Kent’s lowest output of the season, 11 below the 29 it was held to by Class B North top seed Caribou.
Dexter senior guard Abby Corson held talented Fort Kent 1,000-point scorer and Miss Maine Basketball semifinalist Lily Oliver to just three points and the Tigers’ full-court pressure and stifling man-to-man defense forced the Warriors into turnovers on their first six possessions.
As a result, the Tigers scored the game’s first seven points and never trailed.
“Those turnovers gave us a lot of momentum,” said the 5-foot-2 Corson who used her quickness and anticipation to limit Oliver’s penetration.
“I got down in my athletic stance, watched her hips and tried to anticipate where she was going with her moves. We knew she was their best player, she had length and she liked to get to the rim,” said Corson. “But defense is my strength on the court.”
Corson added that she had plenty of help.
“On the back of our T-shirts it says ‘Defend as One.’ It’s not just one person defending their best player, it takes everyone on the team,” said Corson, who also contributed seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. “Defense is our strength. We don’t have anybody who is going to score 30 points for us.”
The smooth point guard also did an excellent job directing the offense and protecting the ball.
Dexter finished with just six turnovers compared to Fort Kent’s 21.
Corson had a hand in Dexter’s first seven points as she sank a free throw, popped in an offensive rebound, fed junior guard Desiree Adams for a baseline layup and passed to Kayleigh Dunton for a basket in the paint.
Dexter led by as many as nine in the second half but Fort Kent senior forward Lily Werntgen rallied her team to within three with 4:13 left to play as she hit a pair of threes during a 9-3 run spanning the third and fourth quarters.
But Corson hit two free throws with 2:59 left to make it 23-18 and then passed to Adams for a layup to trigger a string of eight unanswered points that secured the win.
Dunton, a senior who transferred to Dexter from Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, paced the 15-5 Tigers with 10 points and six rebounds.
Despite being only 5-foot-4, the hard-working Dunton was a force in the paint.
“I like to attack the rim,” said Dunton, who added that she loves playing for Dexter.
Adams finished with seven points, five rebounds and two steals, Kallie Stone had five points and Annabelle Peakes finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Werntgen finished with nine points for the 16-3 Warriors and she also had six rebounds and two steals. Emlyn Nadeau had four points and a team-high nine rebounds and Oliver had seven rebounds to accompany her three points. Ellie Roy had five rebounds and two points.
Dexter will now face Mattanawcook Academy in the semifinals on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. It will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal, when Dexter triumphed 42-27 en route to a state title. Mattanawcook Academy won both regular season games vs. Dexter, 36-21 and 57-29.
