Wildcats advance to EM final with 19-point win
By Jon Gulliver
Staff writer
BANGOR —The No. 1 seeded Presque Isle Lady Wildcats punched their ticket to the Eastern Maine Class B championship game by dropping the No. 4 Gardiner Tigers, 63-44, in semifinal action on Wednesday at the Bangor Auditorium.
This game wasn’t close for very long. Presque Isle closed out the first quarter with a 21-4 run to give the Wildcats at 23-8 lead heading into the second quarter. Three non-starters keyed the run, including a three-pointer by junior Karlee Bernier, two baskets by freshman Hannah Graham and three hoops by another freshman Krystal Kingsbury.
One of the strengths of the Wildcats this year is depth, with coach Jeff Hudson saying on repeated occasions this is one of the deepest teams he has ever coached.
“I feel like we have eight starters,” Hudson said. “We don’t lose anything when we bring our subs in.”
The defensive effort was also evident as Presque Isle forced nine turnovers in the first half and pushed Gardiner into some bad shots.
Presque Isle eventually built its lead to 20 points at 36-16 before the Tigers made their last run, a 9-0 effort that cut the Wildcats’ advantage to 11.
Graham finished with a game-high 16 points, junior forward Meredith Stewart added 13, Bernier finished with eight and senior guard Kayla Richards chipped in seven.
PRESQUE ISLE (63)
Ireland 2-4 0-0 5, Nickerson 1-4 1-2 3, Guerrette 0-5 5-8 5, Bernier 3-6 0-0 8, Ackerson 0, Richards 3-7 1-1 7, Buck 0-0 0-0 0, Graham 7-11 0-1 16, Girardin 0, Kingsbury 3-5 0-0 6, Cheney 0, Stewart 3-7 7-11 13. Totals 22-49 14-23 63.
GARDINER (44)
Moody 0-6 0-0 0, Granholm 4-8 1-1 9, Pilsbury 1-5 0-2 2, McAllister 3-5 4-4 10, Banister 2-7 0-0 4, Moore 2-7 0-0 5, Owen 0-2 0-0 0, Quirion 0, MaComber 3-6 0-0 6, Kelley 1-2 0-0 2, Day 3-7 0-0 6, Dunn 0-1 0-0 0, Chadwick 0. Totals 19-56 5-7 44.
Gardiner 8-19-11-6 — 44
Presque Isle 23-20-9-11 — 63
