The Cape Elizabeth’s girls’ basketball season ended in the Western Class B quarterfinals Tuesday with a 67-39 loss to second-ranked Leavitt.
But Coach Chris Roberts couldn’t be more pleased with her team’s season. The Capers started two freshmen (Mary Perkins and Kate Miklavic) and a sophomore (Marlo Dell’Aquila), and finished 9-10.
“I’m thrilled for the kids,” said Roberts. “It’s been 15 years since they’ve been on a tournament floor like this. And it’s the experience.
“It’s kind of, hopefully, they’ve got a taste of what it’s about and they come back next year and think, getting there isn’t good enough. But I’m thrilled.”
THE LEAVITT GIRLS’ basketball players wore pink T-shirts in warm-ups with the phrase “I believe in a cure” on the back.
Coach Tammy Anderson said the team is doing it to bring attention to a cure for breast cancer after two of the players had grandmothers diagnosed with the disease in the last year.
Leavitt’s colors are green and white.
MARTHA VERONEAU knew she was close to the record, but also knew her time on the floor was limited with the game well in hand.
So the Waynflete sophomore guard went for it.
“I just kept shooting,” she said.
And on her third try, Veroneau entered the record books.
Veroneau set a Western Class C girls’ single-game tournament record with seven 3-pointers in a 69-49 victory against St. Dominic.
Veroneau finished with 37 points.
“With two minutes left Coach (Brandon Salway) told me I was one away from the record,” she said. “I was surprised. He said to go for the 3-ball. I shot two and then I made it on the third try. It was exciting.”
Added Salway: “After a timeout, I told Martha she had one more chance, then I felt like we needed to clear the bench and put the young kids in there. I had subs in there ready to go. I respect St. Dom’s. I didn’t want to go for the record at the expense of them. But they respect Martha and there wasn’t too many people in the gym rooting against her, that’s for sure.”
Veroneau said she wasn’t nervous when told she was one 3-pointer away of the record.
“I had nothing to lose,” she said.
THE RESULTS obviously weren’t what Oak Hill Coach Tom Morong was hoping for Tuesday, but he considered his team’s 54-45 loss to Lake Region an important first step. The Raiders had not made the girls’ basketball playoffs since 1995.
“What I want to do with the 10 kids coming back is to feed this to them. We got here a little early (to) absorb the whole thing,” said Morong, in his second year at Oak Hill after 20 at Morse. “Once you experience it, you’re going to want to be back every year. That’s just something we won’t even have to bring up next year. It’s going to be a given that this is our goal, we have to get here.”
Replacing Maggie Sabine won’t be easy. The senior forward led her team with 16 points, and averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds this season. When she picked up her fourth foul with 3:09 left in the third quarter, the Raiders weathered the storm, getting points from previously quiet Brianna Hodgkins, Jessica Roberts and Julie Morneault.
“I was extremely proud of my kids when she had to leave the floor. We actually did some really good things,” Morong said.
LAKE REGION benefited from the return of junior forward Allison Clark. She played her most minutes since being injured in a Jan. 22 game at Cape Elizabeth. She scored six points against Oak Hill and was on the court down the stretch as an extra ball-handler and free-throw shooter, making 3 of 4 to help seal the win.
RICK CLARK, the York girls’ coach, gave an assist to his wife, Lauren, after the Wildcats beat Gray-New Gloucester, 55-14.
It seems the Wildcats’ bus didn’t show up at the school to take the team to Portland. So Lauren Clark drove to Wells, got a school bus and got the Wildcats to Portland.
NICE TOUCH of class late Monday night by the Bonny Eagle fans who gathered after the Scots lost to top-ranked Deering 37-30 in the Western Class A quarterfinals.
First they applauded Coach Sue Rondeau as she made her way down the court toward the exit at the Portland Expo.
Then they cheered the team as it came up the stairs from the locker room and also headed to the exit.
Rondeau, whose teams won only seven games the previous two seasons, said the loss was disappointing but the program is hopefully headed in the right direction.
“For our program, the goal was to get in the playoffs and get to the Expo,” she said. “So we raised that bar hopefully for the kids coming back next season. They can see how hard we worked to get this far.”
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