BANGOR, Maine — The undefeated Penobscot Valley High School girls basketball team from Howland has feasted on turnovers caused by its full-court zone trap, and on its 3-point shooting prowess.
They averaged 75.3 points per game in the regular season and 83 in their two Class C North tournament wins entering Saturday night’s regional championship game against Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
They had lost in the regional title game the previous three years.
“We finally got over the hump,” said elated PVHS coach Nate Case.
The Lynx did an exceptional job neutralizing those strengths but the Howlers were able to grind out a 42-37 victory behind some crucial late baskets by Brooklynn Raymond and Shay Ireland, along with two Ellie Austin free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining.
The 21-0 Howlers will return to the state championship game for the first time since 2019 when they take on two-time South champ Hall-Dale from Farmingdale, in Saturday night’s 7 p.m. game at the Cross Insurance Center.
Dexter beat Hall-Dale in the state final a year ago, 48-41.
Mattanawcook Academy completed an 18-3 campaign with all three losses coming to Penobscot Valley.
The Lynx stunned the Howlers with an 11-0 run in the first period to build a 13-7 lead. And they expanded it to 19-12 with four minutes left in the second quarter.
But the Howlers closed to within one at the intermission and the lead see-sawed back and forth in the second half with neither team able to pull away.
The Howlers were holding a one-point lead when Raymond hit a traditional 3-point play off a six-foot jumper to make it 37-33 with 5:27 remaining in the game. She had missed a shot but Ireland grabbed the offensive rebound. Raymond was eventually able to convert while also getting fouled on the play.
Megan House hit a free throw for Mattanawcook with 4:43 to go but Ireland hit a 10-foot baseline shot for her only points of the game to make it 39-34.
The Lynx missed a pair of foul shots with 2:56 remaining, and the Howlers spread the floor and worked a deliberate spread offense weaving with numerous handoffs for nearly two minutes before MA had to put them on the free throw line.
“We have four girls who can handle the ball,” said Case.
Lila Cummings hit one of two free throws with 47.4 seconds left to make it 40-35 and, after PVHS missed two free throws, MA standout post player Addison Cyr drove the lane for a layup with 24.2 ticks on the clock left.
Austin then salted the game away with two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining.
“When the playoffs come along, everyone is scheming a bunch of stuff so you just have to fight through it and find different ways [to win],” said junior Cummings, who wound up with five points, seven rebounds and three steals.
“They came out and gave us their best shot. We got down but we were able to respond and come back and I’m really proud of the team for that,” said junior guard Rylee Moulton, who finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three steals.
“After the first half, we woke up,” said senior guard Austin, who had 10 points and seven rebounds. “We knew we weren’t performing the way we know how to. Our defensive intensity really helped us wake up.”
The Lynx weren’t bothered by the full-court zone trap as they handled the ball extremely well, using six-footer Cyr to break it and allow them to get into their half-court offense.
So Case went to a full-court, man-to-man in the second period.
“That caused a little more havoc,” said Moulton.
Case said Mattanawcook was very well-prepared and executed well.
“All the pressure was on us. They were playing with house money. So we switched to our man-to-man to grind it out,” Case said.
There was a familiarity since the teams met twice during the regular season. PVHS won both 46-30 and 45-36.
Click to expand photos. Hover to see captions.
Penobscot Valley’s Brooklynn Raymond (right) celebrates with teammate Shay Ireland after an and-one during the Class C North Championship game vs Mattanawcook at the Cross Insurance Center.
Mattanawcook’s Addison Cyr shots a floater over the Penobscot Valley defense during the Class C North Championship game at the Cross Insurance Center.
Penobscot Valley’s Ellie Austin drives to the hoop defended by Mattanawcook’s Cloe De La Cruz during the Class C North Championship game at the Cross Insurance Center.
Junior center Cyr had a terrific game for MA with 14 points, a game-high 18 rebounds along with four assists, three steals and three blocked shots.
“(PVHS) is a really good team,” said Mattanawcook coach Pat House. “Their defense is amazing. They come at you in waves. It’s like swimming upstream. Against their pressure, you sometimes forget to be assertive and use the tools you have to make them pay.”
“We did that at times but we didn’t do it enough,” said House, who added that he was pleased overall with his team’s performance and execution.
Penobscot Valley came into the game already owning the regional tournament record for 3-pointers made with 25 in its first two games but the Lynx held them to just three as they did a stellar job rotating their defense and guarding Moulton, Austin and Raymond especially beyond the 3-point arc.
“They were ready for us,” said Moulton.
Raymond was Penobscot Valley’s leading scorer with 13 points and Case said her mid-range jumpers from the base line were important for his team.
She also had five rebounds and two steals.
The Howlers went an uncharacteristic 7-for-16 from the foul line.
House finished with 11 points for MA and she also had five rebounds to complement Cyr. Cloe De La Cruz had six points and four rebounds.
Natalie Turner and Juliana Cloukey had three points each for MA.