The Ellsworth girls provided the best finish of the 2026 high school basketball tournament so far, storming back in the fourth quarter to upset Old Town 49-46 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Friday night.
No. 2 Old Town jumped out to an early lead, but No. 7 Ellsworth would not be denied down the stretch in Class B North action.
Senior Lizzie Boles was clutch for the Eagles with a pivotal 7 points, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 41 and a running layup that sent her to the floor but gave Ellsworth a 43-41 lead.
Ellsworth head coach Andy Pooler called those “huge points” by Boles down the stretch.
“That’s what you need from your senior captain,” Pooler said.
Old Town sophomore Emma Ketch was equally vital for the Coyotes down the stretch, at one point scoring 8-straight for her team and later adding another basket to give Old Town a 1-point lead with less than a minute left.
But Ketch would soon foul out, and two Kaylee Bagley free throws gave Ellsworth a lead they would not relinquish.
Allie Bivens took a critical charge for the Eagles, then Bagley knocked down two more free throws to seal the come-from-behind win.
Pooler said his team “has a lot to be proud of” after getting through a stretch in the middle of the regular season where they lost five out of six games en route to the No. 7 seed in the playoffs.
“My message to them is, a seven seed is not a bad seed in this league,” Pooler said. “Don’t worry about the seeding, just go out and play the game.”