The second-seeded Caribou High School Vikings outscored seventh seed Foxcroft Academy 19-7 to close out the first half and take a 16-point lead into the intermission as the Vikings advanced to the Class B North semifinals with 68-39 victory at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Caribou broke the game open with a 15-5 spurt to end the third quarter.
Caribou, now 16-3, will take on No. 3 Ellsworth in Wednesday’s 10 a.m. semifinal.
Caribou won a pair of three-point games against Ellsworth during the regular season.
Sophomore guard Madelynn Deprey poured in 27 points and corralled 10 rebounds to pace the Vikings.
“Our defensive intensity is what really kept us in the game,” Deprey said. “We always try to talk on defense, which is something we struggled with at the beginning of the season.”
She said their defensive intensity led to some easy baskets during those decisive spurts.
“We were able to push the ball in transition. We were able to have a few people leak out after getting a stop on defense and we were able to score from that,” the 5-foot-9 Deprey said.
Caribou head coach Kayla Brown concurred with Deprey.
“We came out strong from the start, defensively,” Brown said. “I told the girls before the game that we’re still young, we’re going to make mistakes but that’s alright. We’ve got to make up for it on defense and I felt they were focused right from the start.”
Brown called Deprey a great player.
“She’s a really hard worker and super dedicated. I do not know many kids who put in more work than she does and it definitely shows on the court,” said the coach.
Freshman Liv Adams came off the bench to score 11 points for the Vikings and she had seven rebounds.
“Liv’s a great spark off the bench,” said the Caribou coach.
Abby Haney had eight points and five rebounds and Madelyn Morrow chipped in with eight points. Carly Morrow had six points, five rebounds and two steals.
Speedy Annie Raynes turned in an outstanding performance for 10-10 Foxcroft as she produced 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals. And she had to sit out for more than three minutes late in the second period after picking up her third foul with 3:58 remaining.
“She’s a great player,” said Deprey of Raynes.
Abby Knapp added nine points and 10 rebounds.
