Huge comeback gives Washburn girls EM title

Regional Champs!

Huge comeback gives Washburn girls EM title

By Kevin Sjoberg

Sports Reporter

BANGOR — Things were looking bleak for the No. 1 seed through two and a half quarters of Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class D championship game.

Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
DRIVING TO THE HOOP is Washburn freshman Carmen Bragg, while Deer Isle-Stonington’s Britnie Jones plays defense during Saturday’s EM final, won by Washburn, 50-43.

Foul trouble, poor shooting and excessive turnovers were plaguing the Washburn Beavers against the upstart Deer Isle-Stonington Mariners, and for much of the game there were no signs that a comeback was in store.

However, despite being down by 17 points early in the third quarter and losing by 14 when 1,000-point scorer Rebecca Campbell fouled out with 3:30 left in the period, Washburn honored the “We Are Family” motto it had employed all season and made it stand up.

The result was a stunning 50-43 victory and a trip to the state championship for a Beaver girls team for the first time in 22 years. Washburn, now 19-2, will take on Richmond for the gold ball Saturday at 1:05 p.m. at the Bangor Auditorium.

Janelle Ciomei’s fast-break layup with 6:01 left in the third gave Deer Isle-Stonington its largest lead at 34-17. Campbell scored on a layup and Olson netted her first basket of the game on a three-pointer to make it a 12-point deficit, but a layup by the Mariners’ Britnie Jones with 4-1/2 minutes remaining in the quarter was soon followed by Campbell, a senior captain, picking up her fifth personal foul, relegating her to the bench for the remainder of the game.

It was then that the Beavers started to come to life.

“I told the team we needed to do this for Becca and the fact that we came so far not to win would have been depressing,” Olson said.

Defensively, Washburn started to bear down and on offense, it was a trio of freshmen – Olson, Carsyn  Koch and Carmen Bragg – that carried a bulk of the load.

The Beavers ended the quarter on a 7-0 run, with Koch supplying two of the baskets, Olson connecting from the outside for another and Bragg hitting one of two from the foul line.

Koch scored on a layup a minute into the fourth to set up what many on the Washburn side felt was the play of the game. Olson took a pass on the wing beyond the three-point arc and fired up a shot, drawing contact along the way. She fell to the floor and the ball made its way through the net, putting the Beaver fans into a frenzy. The Deer Isle-Stonington lead had been cut to two points (36-34) and momentum was clearly in favor of the top seed as Washburn had outscored the Mariners 17-2 over a 6:51 stretch.

“I said ‘did that really just go in?’ and I looked in the stands and everyone was cheering,” Olson said.

“Everyone’s attitude changed,” said Carlos. “We went from making no shots in the first half to all of a sudden making some shots. Everybody seemed to come to life.”

Shiann Closson hit one of two from the line to make it a three-point Mariner advantage before Olson drained yet another three to tie the game.

“At the beginning of the year, I’d miss a couple shots and just stop shooting. But Coach told me not to stop and they’d start falling,” Olson said. “He believed in me and told me that my team needs me. Then they started falling.”

Chelsea Brown knocked in two free throws to give Deer Isle the lead once again before Washburn got some offensive contributions from an unexpected source. Sophomore guard Rayah Saucier scored on a putback and then with 3:51 left was fouled and drained both free throws to give her team its first lead of the game at 41-39.

The Mariners tied the game on two more foul shots, but Bragg hit a three-pointer with 2:30 to play for a 44-41 advantage and Deer Isle-Stonington managed just two foul shots the rest of the way, while Meghan Saucier scored on a driving layup and Bragg made four free throws to clinch the remarkable turnaround.

“People that had to do their jobs did their jobs,” Carlos said, “and that’s what I was counting on. It’s a fantastic group of ladies with a lot of heart who had to dig down hard to make it happen for us.”

Deer Isle-Stonington missed its final 13 field goal attempts and did not score from the field after Campbell fouled out midway through the third. The team committed 16 turnovers in the second half.

“When she fouled out, we let down our guard,” said Mariner coach Darren Eaton. “Stuff we were doing well all day went away and we lost our focus.

“Washburn did a good job holding their composure and kept up its defensive intensity.”

Deer Isle-Stonington got off to a fast start, leading 11-2 midway through the first quarter. Washburn cut the lead to two early in the second, but a 9-0 run over four minutes, spearheaded by seven points from Jones as well as eight Washburn turnovers, put the Mariners back in control heading into halftime. In addition to the miscues, Washburn’s early struggles can be attributed to its poor shooting, as the team went 5 for 27 from the floor in the first half.

The troubles for the Beavers continued early in the third as the Mariners reeled off a 10-2 scoring spree, but soon after the tide began to turn in Washburn’s favor.

“I think we settled down,” said senior Sarah Sjoberg, who finished with eight blocked shots, eight rebounds and three steals. “We were going at their pace at the beginning, but in the second half we slowed it down, swung the ball around and started to make things happen.

“We had a lot of odds against us, but thankfully we were able to come back.”

Bragg had 12 points and three steals, while Campbell and Olson both finished with 11 points. Koch had seven points and five rebounds off the bench.

Jones finished with 14 points and Ciomei had 10 for the sixth-ranked Mariners, who finished with an 18-3 record.