When Central High School junior center Chloe Daigle stepped to the foul line with 3.8 seconds left in a tie game, she said she was so nervous she couldn’t breathe.
“I was devastated. I told myself, ‘Don’t freak out. It’s going to be over now or later. Just get it done,’” said Daigle, who sank the first of her two free throws after being fouled hauling down an offensive rebound to give Central a 44-43 win over Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in their tightly officiated Class C North quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
It was Daigle’s first and only point of the game.
Fourth seed Central of Corinth, 17-3, will face the winner of the Dexter-Fort Kent quarterfinal in Friday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal.
Fifth seed Mattanawcook of Lincoln ended up 14-6.
Two Rylee Speed free throws with 1:53 left in the game gave Central a 43-37 lead.
But Lauren House’s baseline jumper, and a steal and layup by her sister Megan just seconds later, cut the lead to two.
Megan House’s runner tied it and Central leading scorer Izzy Allen was whistled for an offensive foul, her fifth, which gave the ball back to Mattanawcook with a chance to win it.
Mattanawcook missed a shot, Daigle grabbed the rebound and the Red Devils eventually called a time out with 11 seconds left.
Mary Allen drove the lane but missed the shot. Daigle snared the rebound and was fouled.
Izzy Allen finished with a game-high 21 points to go with four rebounds and two steals. Freshman sister Mary had nine points and eight rebounds.
Alexis Witty had eight points and Speed finished with five to go with five rebounds.
Kaitlyn Thornton’s 13 points and five rebounds paced Mattanawcook. Megan House had eight points, Lauren House and Addison Cyr had seven apiece and Lily Wotton had five points.
Cyr had nine rebounds before fouling out in the fourth period.
Wotton had six rebounds and Thornton had five.