BANGOR, Maine — When the Dexter girls basketball team concluded its regular season by knocking off previously unbeaten Stearns, a light bulb went off in Megan Peach’s head.
“After we lost to them the first time, by a lot, we told everybody the rest of the year that we could beat them,” Peach said.
Peach’s confidence apparently has rubbed off on the rest of her teammates, as the fifth-ranked Tigers earned their second win over the Minutemen of Millinocket in just a couple of weeks — a thrilling 47-44 Class C North semifinal at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday night.
Coach Jody Grant’s Tigers (15-6) earned a regional championship date with second-seeded George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill on Saturday night at 7:05.
Top-ranked Stearns ends its season 18-2, with both losses coming at the hands of Dexter.
The Tigers forced the Minutemen out of their comfort zone early, scoring the game’s first five points while it took Stearns nearly five minutes to hit its first field goal.
That led to Dexter slowing the tempo and forcing a quicker Stearns club into a half-court game, which wasn’t the style the Minutemen wanted to play.
“We knew if we let them play a half-court game, we’d be in trouble,” said Stearns coach Michael Brown, whose Minutemen shot 14-for-45 on the night. “The only way you can get into the full-court game is if you hit shots and we weren’t hitting shots.”
In spite of trailing 41-30 at the end of the third quarter, Stearns steadily chipped away and got within two with 2:51 remaining after an Emma Alley free throw.
But Peach (23 points, 19 rebounds) scored the next four points to put Dexter up six with 1:14 remaining. Emma Alley and Kayli Cunningham subsequently traded two points and Dexter still led by six with 27 seconds left.
Emma Alley (19 points, 3 steals) subsequently drained a 3-pointer from well beyond the college line to give Stearns life with 14 seconds left, and the Minutemen had a chance to tie after a lane violation on a Dexter free throw.
Alley’s desperation deep 3-ball hit the back of the iron as time expired, and the Tigers were able to escape in spite of 19 turnovers.
“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves,” said Grant. “Things got away from us a little bit at the end. We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board and clean some of that stuff up.”
After leading by just two at halftime, the Tigers outscored Stearns 17-8 in the third quarter, with Peach scoring seven of those points, to build their double-digit lead.
Kayli Cunningham was the other Tiger in double figures with 12 points.
