BANGOR — For some Winslow players, it was their first game at the Cross Insurance Center in two years. For many others, it was their first ever.
None of Winslow’s first four shots hit the rim, and only one hit the backboard. After that, though, there were several signs that the 10th-seeded Black Raiders could play with No. 2 Presque Isle.
Then the onslaught started.
Presque Isle hit five consecutive 3-pointers, and all of a sudden, a two-point lead was 16. That stretch pretty much meant the game, as Presque Isle went on to a 50-33 victory in an Eastern B girls basketball quarterfinal Friday night.
“We’re usually a pretty good 3-point shooting team,” Presque Isle coach Jeff Hudson said. “But we’re streaky, too.”
Presque Isle’s Krystal Kingsbury scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats put the game away. Hannah Graham added 13 points and Emily Lagerstrom had 10, while Regan Nelson hauled down 15 rebounds. For Winslow, Heather Kervin finished with 13 points.
After the rough shooting start, Winslow got going with a three by Alyssa Wood. In the final seconds of the first quarter, Ciara LeClair drove the lane and dished back to Kervin, who nailed a straight-on three to get the Raiders within 10-8 at the end of the quarter.
“I think (it was) adrenaline, nerves a little bit,” Winslow coach Lindsey Welch said. “We knew it was going to happen. Just take a couple of possessions, shake it off.”
What Winslow couldn’t shake off was Presque Isle’s shooting in the second quarter. Graham knocked down back-to-back threes, and the Wildcats led, 16-8. Lagerstrom drilled a three and was fouled, then made the foul shot for a four-point play that made it 20-10. By halftime, after subsequent threes by Lagerstrom and Taylor Williams, Presque Isle’s lead was 28-14.
“I give Winslow a lot of credit,” Hudson said. “They’re very athletic. They do a lot of things really well, especially on defense. We just weren’t open. Then we started making the extra pass, and we were more open than we were. We started making our shots.”
The Raiders kept pace as well as they could, but when they missed a shot, Nelson came up with the rebound. By halftime, Nelson had more than a third of all the rebounds in the game.
“We knew, if we’re gonna make a run in the tournament, Regan’s gotta play big, and she really did today,” Hudson said. “She had a couple big baskets, and she’s got long arms and should get a lot of rebounds. She played very well today.”
After neither team could get going in the third quarter, Winslow got as close as 11 in the fourth, behind Kervin, LeClair, Wood and Devin Fitzgibbons.
“We came in, I think, with the mentality that we have nothing to lose,” Welch said. “The girls bought into that, and they started believing in themselves and this team. The girls battled the whole way until that buzzer went off. Even when we were out of it, 35 seconds left, they still gave every effort they had.”
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