BANGOR, Maine — The Penobscot Valley girls basketball team had been easily running over the competition through the first two rounds of the Class C north regional tournament. They had scored at least 80 points in each of their first two games.
It was a very different night for the Howlers on Saturday in the regional championship game, with the Mattanawcook Academy Lynx using strong team defense and solid ball management to challenge the undefeated Penobscot Valley girls like no one else has been able to do in the tournament thus far.
The game felt different, but the result was ultimately the same for the Howlers. Penobscot Valley survived with a 42-37 win at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
With the win, Penobscot Valley advances to the Class C state championship at the Cross Center next Saturday in Bangor. That March 1 game will be held at 7 p.m. and the Howlers will face Hall-Dale of Farmingdale in a battle between the number one seeds from the North and South regions.
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Penobscot Valley’s Brooklynn Raymond (right) celebrates with teammate Shay Ireland after an and-one during the Class C North Championship game vs Mattanawcook at the Cross Insurance Center.
Mattanawcook’s Addison Cyr shots a floater over the Penobscot Valley defense during the Class C North Championship game at the Cross Insurance Center.
Penobscot Valley’s Ellie Austin drives to the hoop defended by Mattanawcook’s Cloe De La Cruz during the Class C North Championship game at the Cross Insurance Center.
Mattanawcook led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Penobscot Valley battled back to trail by just one point, 21-20, at halftime. The lead went back-and-forth in the second half, with the Howlers building a small lead in the fourth quarter. They protected that lead, and protected the ball, on the way to their toughest win of the tournament so far.
With her team up by three points with 12.9 seconds to go, Penobscot Valley senior guard Ellie Austin stepped up to the free throw line and made both foul shots to stretch the lead to five. Those points sealed the hard-fought win for the Howlers.
Sophomore guard Brooklyn Raymond led the scoring for Penobscot Valley with 13 points. Junior guard Rylee Moulton had 12 and Austin had 10. Junior forward Addison Cyr scored 14 for Mattanawcook and also pulled down 18 rebounds. Junior guard Megan House added 11 points for the Lynx.
