BANGOR — So many high school basketball teams get nervous for a state championship game – either from the propriety of the game, the noise of the Bangor Auditorium, or both.
Then there are the Hall-Dale girls. In their first game at the Auditorium, the Bulldogs played like they were shooting around in a friend’s driveway.
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Hall-Dale did the things it did all season – exceptional defense, strong rebounding and versatile scoring. Carylanne Wolfington and Taylor Massey combined for 38 points as the Bulldogs captured the Class C Gold Ball with a 54-38 victory over Washington Academy on Saturday night.
“(Friday) we came out here before practice, and the gym was so empty. It was definitely really intimidating,” said Massey, who had 18 points. “We came out here tonight, it was just not so nerve-wracking anymore.”
It’s Hall-Dale’s first Gold Ball since 1986 and third overall.
Wolfington finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four steals, and tied a Class C championship game record with four 3-pointers. The Bulldogs (21-1) tied the team record with six 3-pointers.
“This season, I haven’t really been open to shoot 3s,” Wolfington said. “Tonight I was, so I was like, ‘I’m gonna shoot it!'”
“That’s Carylanne,” Hall-Dale Coach Brandon Terrill said. “She’s a tremendous athlete. She’s a better kid. She’s everything you could ever ask for from a coach in a player. There’s nothing on the basketball court she can’t do.”
Early in the game, Hall-Dale was able to easily get the ball inside to Massey and also shoot well from the outside. The Bulldogs also smothered Washington with a 2-2-1 zone press. In the first half, the Raiders committed 14 turnovers and shot just 5 of 17 from the floor.
“All throughout the tournament, that’s what we do,” Terrill said. “We constantly harp on defense and rebounds. The girls go after it so hard on defense. We’re 100 percent, all the time, and we did it again tonight.”
Kirsti Wright hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points for Washington (17-5), and Taylor Seeley did some damage inside early and scored 12 points. But no one else had more than four points for the Raiders.
Still, the Bulldogs needed Massey’s senior savvy to maintain control in the second quarter. She picked up her second foul with 5:43 left in the half and Hall-Dale leading, 16-10. Massey went to the bench, and the Raiders went inside on nearly every possession, cutting Hall-Dale’s lead to 18-15 with 3:38 remaining.
At that point, Terrill put Massey back in the game, and Washington did not score again before halftime. Massey avoided picking up another foul, finally returning to the bench with 27.5 seconds left in the half and Hall-Dale leading 28-15.
“I have a lot of trust in her,” Terrill said. “I trust Taylor to get the job done. She’s a smart kid. I talked to her briefly before I put her back in. I said, ‘Giving up a basket here is better than picking up your third foul before halftime.’ I trusted her to go out and get it done, and she did.”
It was still 28-15 at halftime, and the Raiders made some adjustments in hopes of getting back into the game. But Massey drained a 3-pointer from the left corner early in the third quarter, and the Bulldogs led 45-28 by the time the fourth quarter began.
“We went to a little bit of a 1-3-1 half-court trap,” Washington Coach Gary Wood said. “We caused a few turnovers out of it, but every loose ball, it seemed like we couldn’t pick it up.
“Then we fell behind a little more and had to scrap that and go to a full-court man, and they were doing a good job taking it at us.”
When Massey, Wolfington, Kristina Buck, Kristen Moody and Wendy Goldman left the floor in the final minutes, the outcome was as clear as Hall-Dale’s dominance.
“This group, they get nervous, and they talk about being nervous, but overall, they’re a loose, fun-loving bunch,” Terrill said. “Once the ball went up, and it tipped off, we just played our game.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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