By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
BANGOR, Maine — The Mount Desert Island Trojans have struggled mightily in recent matchups against Presque Isle, so a change in the team’s defensive strategy was in order when the two squads met in Saturday afternoon’s Eastern Maine Class B basketball championship. The switch, along with MDI’s hot shooting at the beginning of the game, were key factors in the team’s 63-51 victory.
The Trojans improved to 19-2, with both blemishes coming in the regular season against the Wildcats. They will take on Western Maine champion Lake Region, the team Presque Isle had beaten in the last two state title games, in Friday’s state championship at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
MDI coach Brent Barker said his squad needed to make adjustments following his team’s 65-50 loss in Presque Isle Jan. 25.
“Since that game, we changed our philosophy,” Barker said. “We were getting beat too much in our man-to-man defense, so we really wanted to do a better job packing it in and closing out on their shooters.”
The Trojans used a 2-3 halfcourt zone that was extended on the Wildcats’ outside shooting threats on the wing. MDI also concentrated heavily on PI junior guard Hannah Graham, using standout defender Molly Carroll on her out along the perimeter.
“I thought we did a great job,” Barker said. “We knew Molly matched up athletically against Hannah, who we have a lot of respect for, and most of the looks she had were tough looks.”
“Everytime [Hannah] had the ball, they pestered her,” said PI coach Jeff Hudson. “That was one of the best defensive jobs an opposing team has done on her all year.”
The first half was a shootout of sorts, with MDI hitting for six three-pointers and PI five over the first 16 minutes. However, the Trojans’ 25-12 rebounding advantage in the half was keyed by sisters Hannah and Kelsey Shaw. Hannah Shaw had 13 rebounds herself and totaled eight points, while Kelsey Shaw chipped in with six inside points, including the final two field goals of the second quarter which gave MDI a 32-19 lead.
Due to the accurate shooting, Hudson said his team was forced to abandon its zone and go man-to-man.
“We knew if they started making shots, we would be in trouble and that big run they had to start the game kind of killed us,” Hudson said. “We were standing and watching out of our 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones and even when we changed to man in the second quarter, we still weren’t rebounding.”
Emily Lagerstrom’s second three-pointer of the first quarter gave Presque Isle an 11-9 lead, but that was the last time the Wildcats were in front. MDI then scored 11 consecutive points and 17 of the next 19 to seize control. Junior guard Sarah Phelps hit three three-pointers during the run and Sierra Myrick and Sierra Tapley added one each.
“We had gone six for 36 on three-pointers during our regular season meetings against them, so when we started four of six, it was what we needed,” Barker said.
The MDI lead was bumped to 15 early in the third quarter and increased to 16 with 6:20 to play in the game before PI went on a huge run.
Lagerstrom, Graham, Taylor Williams and Graham again scored on three-pointers over the next 3-1/2 minutes to cut the margin to 51-47.
“Give my kids credit — they never quit,” Hudson said.
“I knew they were going to make a run at us,” Barker said. “I have so much respect for their program and they have two kids (Graham and Krystal Kingsbury) who have been there before and you can’t teach that.”
Kelsey Shaw then made a huge play to squelch the rally by hitting a layup while being fouled with 2:26 left. She canned the free throw to stretch the lead back to seven and Presque Isle was unable to get any closer. MDI converted on eight of its final 10 foul shots to secure the win.
The loss put an end to Presque Isle’s 64-game winning streak, which began at the beginning of the 2011-12 season.
“We had so much respect for that streak,” Barker said. “It’s unbelievable to think they won that many games in a row.”
Graham was held to 13 points, while adding five rebounds and three assists. Graham said it was the first time she had lost a game since she started playing school basketball beginning as a seventh-grader.
“It’s disappointing because I thought we’d give them more of a game. They got away from us early and all we had were threes on offense and that’s not going to do it,” she said. “We’ll be back next year.”
Williams scored 16 points to lead the PI offense. Lagerstrom finished with nine and frontcourt players Kingsbury and Nelson were limited to five each.
Hannah Shaw’s 25 points were tops for the Trojans, while Kelsey Shaw added 13 and Phelps 12.
In the semifinal win over Foxcroft Academy last Wednesday, Nelson was a force off the bench with 14 points on five-of-eight shooting from the floor and seven rebounds.
The lead changed hands five times early on, but Foxcroft led for a majority of the time and was up 21-18 after one quarter. Graham’s 12-foot jumper with just over a minute left in the second put PI in front (26-25) for the first time since being ahead 11-9 midway through the first period.
The Ponies kept the game close, but never took the lead again. A driving layup by Grace Bickford with 1:50 to play cut the margin to two points, but Kingsbury nailed two free throws with 40 seconds left to ice the win.
Nelson chipped in with a pair of crucial conventional three-point plays in the second half and had eight of her 14 points after intermission. Graham finished with 18 points, while Foxcroft’s Breanna Skolfield had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead her team.
