The 21-0 Penobscot Valley girls basketball team from Howland finally got over the hump.
After losing three straight Class C North regional championship games by a combined total of just 14 points, the Howlers rallied for a 42-37 win over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in last Saturday’s C North title game.
That will send them into Saturday’s 7 p.m. state title game against 18-3 Hall-Dale of Farmingdale at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Hall-Dale played in last year’s state championship game, losing to Dexter 48-41.
Penobscot Valley will be seeking its first ever state title while Hall-Dale captured the gold ball last in 2022.
The Howlers lost to Boothbay Region 33-25 in the 2019 state Class C final.
“We have put in so much work as a team. It would be really nice to see our work pay off with a gold ball,” said Penobscot Valley senior guard Ellie Austin. “Not only for us but for our community which has always supported us.”
Austin was one of three Howlers chosen to the Bangor Daily News all-tourney team along with junior guard Rylee Moulton and sophomore guard Brooklynn Raymond. Moulton was the Most Valuable Player.
The regional final was PVHS’ closest game of the season. The team’s other two narrowest wins also came against Mattanawcook Academy during the regular season: 46-30 on Dec. 12 and 46-36 on Feb. 4.
The Howlers won each of their other 18 games by at least 30 points.
PVHS coach Nate Case said he was grateful to Mattanawcook Academy because the Lynx provided his team with something they desperately needed: a challenge.
“MA has kept us sharp all year,” said Case. “I would tell the girls at practice that they had to get locked in because MA is working hard all the time to beat you guys.”
And the only time the Howlers had to overcome significant deficits was against Mattanawcook Academy.
“All the credit to them,” Case said about Mattanawcook.
His Howlers trailed the Lynx by seven in the second quarter of the championship game before coming back to win it.
Case said his team did a lot of uncharacteristic things in the final that have been addressed in practice as part of preparation for the state final.
“One of the most important things we didn’t do was push the ball up the court,” said Case. “We kept walking the ball up.”
He said his team has been doing that in practice whenever someone gets a rebound.
“It doesn’t benefit us to play a slow game,” Case added.
He said his team also wasn’t working the ball around in their half-court offense against Mattanawcook, they were settling for making one pass and then putting up a quick shot.
They entered the game with a girls tournament record of 25 3-pointers in their first two games so it is conceivable that the Howlers retained that mindset of launching threes early only to discover that MA’s defenders didn’t give them nearly as much freedom and space to do so.
Their full-court press had forced numerous turnovers throughout the season and the tournament which led to easy transition baskets.
But the Lynx had very little trouble breaking the press thanks to all-tourney selections Addison Cyr and Megan House, who turned in exceptional performances in the final.
Case said his players weren’t going to where they were supposed to be in their trapping defense and, in their half-court defense, they didn’t defend the corners well.
They also shot just 7-for-16 from the foul line after entering the game shooting over 70 percent from the free throw line, according to Case.
“It was a mental thing for us,” said Case. “After being runners up three years in a row, we were playing tight.”
But the Howlers still made enough plays and got enough stops late in the game to emerge triumphant.
“We had to get that weight off our backs,” the coach added.
Austin, who averaged 17.7 points per game, became one of the few players to make the all-tourney team all four years of her career.
“That’s really special. I’m really grateful for it,” said Austin, who would love to finish her high school basketball career with a state championship before taking her skills to Bangor’s Husson University next fall.
Austin said the key to Saturday’s game will be their full-court pressure defense.
“We have to be aggressive, play through contact and stuff like that,” she said, who added that playing in the Cross Insurance Center will definitely be advantageous.
“Having played there throughout the years, we’ve gotten used to it,” said Austin. “We’re still going to be nervous because it’s a big game but we will be more comfortable.”
Case expected his team to have “a huge crowd there” on Saturday.
Hall-Dale reached the state final with a 36-25 win over Madison in the C South final.
Senior guard Torie Tibbetts had 11 points and nine rebounds and junior guard Sierra Gibbons chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.
