The Oxford Hills girls basketball team transformed a five-point lead at halftime to a 62-25 victory over Gorham to win the Class AA state championship at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Monday.
It’s the third state title for the 21-1 Vikings, who previously won gold balls in 2019 and 2020.
Gorham ends its Cinderella postseason campaign at 12-10. It entered the AA South tournament as the No. 3 seed and upset No. 1 Thornton Academy 44-41 in the regional championship game.
Gorham took an early lead and had a 12-7 edge over the Vikings at the end of the first quarter thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Ellie Gay.
But Oxford Hills gained momentum in the second quarter, taking a five-point lead over Gorham into halftime with a score of 22-17.
But Oxford Hills used a flurry of 3-pointers, including three consecutive threes from Tristen Derenburger, in the third quarter to outscore Gorham 23-3 in the frame and create a gap from which the Rams could not recover.
The Rams managed to score just eight points in the second half.
Derenburger led Oxford Hills with 18 points. Sierra Carson scored 17 points, six rebounds and nine steals. Ella Pelletier and Gabbie Tibbetts added 10 points apiece.
Gay was the leading scorer for Gorham with 13 points. Lauren Dunbar added seven points and Elizabeth Willette scored three points for the Rams.
This was Gorham’s second consecutive year falling to the North regional champion in the state title game, as the Rams lost to Cheverus 49-36 in 2022. Gorham previously won Class AA state titles in 2016 and 2017.
Oxford Hills erased a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit in the AA North title game to beat defending state champ Cheverus of Portland 68-63 in double overtime behind Carson’s 29 points, Pelletier’s 17 points and Derenburger’s two 3-pointers in the second overtime.
The Vikings defeated No. 5 Hampden in the semifinals 48-35 and No. 8 Portland in the quarterfinals 56-33.