The Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors are back again this year in the Eastern Maine Class D Tournament and will face Deer Isle-Stonington at 9:35 a.m. on Monday.
“Deer Isle is a really aggressive team, as one person I talked to would describe them as "scrappy.",” said SACS coach Cliff Urquhart. “Those are the types of teams that should scare people. We will not make the mistake of going into this game being overconfident.”
Urquhart had a chance to watch them against Jonesport-Beals and thought they were a team which could compete with “anyone in Class D on any given night.”
Southern Aroostook Lady Warriors seniors, from left, Liz Goodall, Lauren McGary, Rochelle Nadeau and Evangeline Goodall
“They can also shoot the ball well,” he said. “In their last contest, they beat a 15-win team in Bangor Christian, so they can not be taken lightly.”
Urquhart said for his squad to be successful there are several things they need to concentrate on.
“We need to control the tempo of the ball game,” he said. “We have truly been a run-and-gun team all season. If you look at some of our scores, we have been in the high 50s, 60s and 70s all season long. I think that with our depth if we can get into a running game, we can stay with most anybody.”
With injured players Evangeline Goodall and Lauren McGary back into the lineup, Urquhart believes by working these players into roles and situations can make the Lady Warriors’ successful.
“As a coach in this point in the season you must prepare your players for different types of scenarios that you might not have seen during the year,” he said. “ Also, mixing up our number sequences and signals is something we will do. Disguising out of bounds plays and different presses is another important thing. An opponent’s coach who gets a good scouting report can pick you apart if you don't try and disguise a few little things.”
Warriors vs. Fort Fairfield
The Southern Aroostook Warriors finished sixth in the Class D Heal Point standings and will face No. 3 Fort Fairfield on Saturday at 7:35 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.
These teams did not match up on the regular season.
SACS will be relying on senior guard Dakota Sleeper, along with seniors Jesse Small, Travis Casey and Nick Tarr.
They will also need those from the bench contributing each time they step onto the hardwood.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers suffered a key personnel loss when their leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, junior forward Travis Noyes, went down with a sprained right ankle.
The extent of the injury was unknown at press time, but coach Todd Alley is preparing for his team’s game against Southern Aroostook as if Noyes will not be available. 
SACs Warriors seniors, from left, Travis Casey, Dakota Sleeper, Logan Desmond, Jesse Small, Garry Sutherland and Travis Smith. Absent from the photograph is Nick Tarr.
If Noyes (15.8 ppg, 10 rebounds per game) is unable to go, Fort Fairfield may need additional offensive contributions from senior point guard Josh Booth, who averages eight points per game but is a very capable perimeter scorer, as well as Josh Churchill (6 ppg), Jahleel Williams (5.7 ppg) and Dereck Dufour (5.6 ppg).
The Tigers are bolstered in the post by the presence of 6-5 senior center John McNamee, who averages 11.6 ppg and 12.2 rebounds per game and is one of the most dominant big men in the Class D ranks.
12/5/09 Southern Aroostook Comm.(49) at Washburn (33)
12/7/09 LCS/MSSM(33) at Southern Aroostook (68)
12/10/09 Katahdin (35) at Southern Aroostook (56)
12/12/09 Ashland (18) at Southern Aroostook(52)
12/14/09 Central Aroostook (60) at Southern Aroostook (47)
12/26/09 Southern Aroostook (66) at Easton(49)
12/28/09 Southern Aroostook (64) at Hodgdon (35)
12/30/09 Southern Aroostook (66) at Katahdin (48)
1/2/10 Washburn (35) at Southern Aroostook (59)
1/6/10 East Grand (10) at Southern Aroostook (71)
1/13/10 Hodgdon (39) at Southern Aroostook (55)
1/14/10 Easton (40) at Southern Aroostook (79)
1/18/10 Southern Aroostook (31) at Central Aroostook (40)
1/21/10 GHCA (38) at Southern Aroostook (67)
1/27/10 Southern Aroostook (58) at LCS/MSSM(30)
1/29/10 Southern Aroostook (56) at East Grand (18)
2/3/10 Southern Aroostook (71) at Ashland (41)
12/7/09 SACS (72) at Hodgdon (62)
12/11/09 SACS (57) at CAHS (71)
12/14/09 SACS (56) at LCS/MSSM(40)
12/26/09 SACS (68) at Easton (61)
12/29/09 SACS (79) at Washburn (70)
12/31/09 SACS (77) at Ashland (51)
1/5/10 East Grand (48) at SACS (69)
1/7/10 Hodgdon (51) at SACS(52)
1/9/10 GHCA (60) at SACS (58)
1/11/10 Ashland (58) at SACS(70)
1/14/10 Washburn (62) at SACS (57)
1/19/10 LCS/MSSM(39) at SACS (66)
1/22/10 Central Aroostook (77) at SACS (55)
1/25/10 SACS (85) at East Grand (49)
1/27/10 Easton (55) at SACS (65)
1/29/10 Katahdin (58) at SACS (70)
2/2/10 SACS (56) at Katahdin (54)
