BANGOR — Central Aroostook High School of Mars Hill senior guard Harleigh Allen said defending a regional championship isn’t easy.
“It’s definitely a hard title to hold,” said Allen who found that out first-hand on Saturday afternoon as her defending Class D North champion Panthers, the third seed, eked out a hard-fought 39-36 victory over sixth seed Woodland at the Cross Insurance Center.
“We need to have a little bit of pride with us knowing that we are the reigning Class D North Northern Maine champs. Definitely looking to go back to that spot,” said Allen, who had 12 points, five rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots in the win over Woodland.
Allen was chosen to the all-tournament team last year as was teammate Lilly Burtt, who was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Junior guard Burtt also had 12 points versus Woodland along with nine rebounds and game-highs in steals with eight and assists with four.
“I’m just trying to have my best games so we can have as good a run as last year,” said Burtt. “I want to be there for my team.”
Allen and Burtt came through at the end of the game to enable the Panthers to hold off the rallying Dragons, who rattled off an 8-0 run to pull within 32-30 with three minutes to play.
A Burtt steal led to an Allen 3-pointer to make it 35-30 and, after a basket by Woodland center Mishun Cornelius, Burtt drove the lane and fed Stevi Pierce for an uncontested layup.
Cornelius converted an offensive rebound to cut the lead to three but Burtt converted a layup off a long Stevi Pierce inbounds pass with 45 seconds remaining and the Panthers withstood a Karleigh Smith basket and a last-second 3-point heave that fell short.
Central Aroostook coach Cody Tompkins said that with the Maine Principals Association’s re-classification, several teams that were in Class C a year ago are now in Class D like defending state champion Penobscot Valley of Howland and Wednesday’s 10 a.m. semifinal opponent Machias.
“Class D looks a lot different than last year,” said Tompkins. “With the new landscape, I knew every game down here was going to be very tough.
“Woodland has a solid ballclub. They had a 1,000-point scorer in Smith, (Kaylin Hamilton) is a great shooter and the Cornelius girl inside has a great presence. And they’re well-coached,” said Tompkins.
He felt his team’s defense earned them the win. The Panthers forced 32 turnovers in their full-court 1-3-1 trap.
“Our offense wasn’t flowing today so we had to rely on our defense and, thankfully, we were able to do so,” said Tompkins.
“Our defense is really good. We had some good steals and we tried to stay disciplined,” said Burtt.
“We are definitely more of a run-and-gun team so playing tough on defense allows us to get those quick steals and quick layups which is what we want as a team,” said Allen.
Senior guard Maggie Mahan had nine points, four steals, two rebounds and two assists for the 18-1 Panthers, junior forward Stevi Pierce had four points, seven rebounds and two assists and junior forward Charlie Pierce contributed five rebounds and five steals to go with two points.
Central Aroostook shot 27.1 percent from the floor and Woodland shot 27.5 percent. Woodland outrebounded Central Aroostook 41-29 but had 12 more turnovers.
Senior guard Smith, the school’s all-time leading scorer with over 1,400 points, led all scorers with 14 points for 9-10 Woodland. She also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal. The 5-foot-11 Cornelius finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, a game-high four blocked shots, three steals and an assist. Senior forward Hamilton wound up with five points, four rebounds and four steals; junior guard Audrina Moore had four points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals and sophomore guard Maddison Coleman grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to go with three assists and three steals.
“We have a team that never quits, never dies, never gives up,” said Woodland coach Mark Hornbrook. “I’m really impressed. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year. We had two years of Covid. We had two years of no JV team.
“So who would have ever known that we’d finish in the sixth position and be fighting the number three seed,” Hornbrook said. “So we’re extremely happy with the girls.”
He pointed out that Cornelius had been a volleyball player and didn’t play basketball last season.
“So we’re really impressed with her,” Hornbrook said.