The Livermore Falls and Hall-Dale girls basketball teams know what to expect from one another when they meet tonight in the Western Maine Class C championship game at the Augusta Civic Center.
Although they didn’t play during the regular season, the teams met a week ago Monday in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game at the Augusta Civic Center and got a good feel for one another.
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Hall-Dale came away with a 49-41 win in which junior Carylanne Wolfington took over after senior center Taylor Massey got into foul trouble guarding Livermore Falls center Marissa Welch. Both teams beat Friday’s snowstorm with early practices that centered on addressing issues that arose in the MVC game.
For Livermore Falls, that means limiting Wolfington, who scored 23 points, mostly on strong drives to the basket.
“For us to control the pace, we have to control Wolfington,” Livermore Falls coach Mark Simpson said. “She is one heck of a player.”
Simpson assigned his leading defender, senior Megan Therrien, to guard Wolfington, but Therrien had trouble controlling the Hall-Dale guard in the paint.
“She took Megan down and posted her up hard,” Simpson said.
The Andies will need help on Wolfington, just as the Bulldogs will need help containing Welch. Massey picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter guarding Welch and two more quick ones in the third. She only scored one basket and finished with six points while Welch scored 16.
“She’ll be on (Welch),” Hall-Dale coach Brandon Terrill said. “We worked in practice on various post defensive looks. We’ve got to get Massey to go straight up.”
Massey also got into foul trouble in Thursday’s semifinal win against Traip and as they did against Livermore Falls, the Bulldogs got a nice defensive lift from 5-foot-11 junior Natalie Fenderson.
“(Fenderson’s) done a great job coming in for (Massey), playing defense and rebounding the ball,” Terrill said.
Both teams have several more key players. Wendy Goldman and Kristen Moody have given the Bulldogs some big hoops this season along with freshman Chelsey Poland who hit a key 3-pointer against Traip. Livermore Falls’ Kathryn Ventrella scored 14 in a semifinal win against Waynflete and shoots well from outside.
The Andies, who haven’t won a regional final since 1987, have been the top defensive team in the MVC since Simpson came on two years ago. This season they allowed 28 points a game.
“We predicate everything off defense and getting teams frustrated,” he said.
Hall-Dale, which last won a regional final in 2006, has played six games on the Augusta Civic Center floor in the past two years.
“We’re really starting to handle that venue and that atmosphere pretty well,” Terrill said.
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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