The Old Town girls basketball team got pushed to the limit on Wednesday afternoon. But with the game on the line, the Coyotes put the ball in the hands of their senior point guard.
Senior guard Makayla Emerson drove to the basket and scored with 2.5 seconds left, lifting No. 2 Old Town to a thrilling 37-35 victory over No. 6 Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor in a Class B North girls semifinal at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
“We were looking for the last shot, no other shot, and everyone cleared out so I just took it to the hole,” Emerson said.
It will be the third consecutive regional title game appearance for coach Heather Richards’ Coyotes (18-2), who play at 6 p.m. Friday against the winner of Wednesday afternoon’s contest between No. 1 Ellsworth and No. 4 Caribou.
The Trojans wound up 12-7.
Despite dropping a pair of double-digit decisions to Old Town during the regular season, MDI positioned itself to reverse that trend. The Trojans mixed up their defenses, using a triangle-and-two and a box-and-one, to help contain senior forward Saige Evans.
Evans finished with four points, but her teammates picked up the slack.
“They found the holes and they made the shots and made the plays,” MDI coach Brent Barker said. “We were hoping to make someone else beat us and that happened today.”
MDI held the ball and a 35-34 lead after a timeout with 29.9 seconds left. However, an errant inbounds pass gave the ball back to Old Town.
The Coyotes tied it eight seconds later when Emerson was fouled on a drive to the hoop and sank the second of two free throws.
After an Old Town timeout with 16.9 seconds remaining, MDI again failed to make the inbounds pass, giving the ball back to the Coyotes.
Old Town put the ball into the hands of their gritty point guard, who attacked the basket off the dribble as the clock ticked down.
“She’s one of the strongest north-south players that I know,” Richards said. “She can drive to the hoop, and she’s forgotten about that in her game, so we reminded her of that today and I knew if she had the confidence to do it, she’d make that shot in the end.”
MDI only had 1.9 seconds to get the ball up the floor and Aleksandra Hanley’s desperation 3-point heave from beyond half-court missed the mark.
“We wanted, in the last minute or two minutes, to have an opportunity and we had that, and that’s all I can really ask for,” Barker said.
Emerson paced Old Town with 15 points, including four 3-pointers, along with six rebounds. Senior Alexis Degrasse tallied seven points with two steals, while Evans (7 rebounds), Elizabeth Magoon and Taylor Loring tallied four points apiece.
Loring, a starting senior guard, injured her knee midway through the second quarter and did not return.
Senior Mollie Gray led the Trojans with 15 points and five rebounds. Lexi Tozier tallied six points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots, while Lily Norwood and Sophia Brophy (4 rebounds) contributed five and four points, respectively.