BANGOR, Maine — Junior guard Rylee Moulton and her top-seeded Penobscot Valley High School of Howland teammates entered the record book on Thursday afternoon in their 86-26 Class C North tournament semifinal win over fifth seed Calais at the Cross Insurance Center.
Moulton and her teammates now own three 3-point shooting tournament records for all North schoolgirl classes.
Moulton’s nine 3-pointers vs. Calais now stands as the individual tournament record; the team’s 15 threes vs. the Blue Devils on Thursday and the team’s 25 total in its first two tournament games will also be logged into the Maine Principals Association record book.
The 20-0 Howlers can add to the tournament record against second seed Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln, 18-2, in Saturday’s 6 p.m. regional final at the Cross Center.
Mattanawcook Academy hung on to edge defending state champ Dexter 35-32 in the earlier semifinal.
“It feels surreal,” said Moulton, who scored a game-high 33 points against Calais. “As a team, we put up a lot of reps so the team record is really great in itself. It shows how hard we work. And as for the individual record, I’m just thankful that my teammates were getting me the ball when I was hot.”
Moulton had just three 3-pointers in their 80-30 quarterfinal win over Central of Corinth, so she made an adjustment.
“In the first game, I was lining my feet up wrong so I fixed it for this game,” said the 17-year-old Moulton.
She credited PVHS coach Nate Case “for making sure I’m getting my reps.”
“He makes sure I’m getting the ball crisply passed to me so I can be as ready to shoot as possible,” Moulton said. “And that definitely helps.”
Case said the team has shot a lot of threes in every game this season.
“That’s what people don’t understand. We shoot 30-plus threes a game,” said Case who noted that Moulton, Raymond and Austin are very capable long-distance shooters.
“Once they get their feet set, those three can shoot real well,” said Case.
The Howlers wasted little time asserting themselves, scoring the game’s first 14 points and taking a 22-3 lead after one period.
The Howlers’ stifling full-court press forced numerous turnovers that often resulted in easy transition baskets.
Moulton had three of her threes in the first eight minutes with senior guard Ellie Austin and sophomore guard Brooklynn Raymond each adding one.
The lead expanded to 46-17 at halftime.
Moulton had five rebounds and five steals to go with her 33 points. Austin finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Raymond had 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Junior forward Lila Cummings had six points and eight rebounds and senior forward Shay Ireland had five rebounds and one point.
Sophomore forward Kaci Small and senior guard Kayleigh Scott paced the 16-5 Blue Devils with eight points apiece. Small also had five rebounds and two steals and Scott had two rebounds. Freshman forward Sadie McPhee had four points and two rebounds.
Calais Sophomore guard Sarah Wentworth produced three rebounds and two points. Olivia Turner had two steals to go with a basket and senior center Kate McPhee had three rebounds and two points.
