Ellsworth girls claim 1st regional championship in 31 years
The Ellsworth girls basketball team may be young, but they played with the fearlessness and poise of a veteran squad in Saturday’s Class B North regional championship game.
The Eagles finished the game on a 9-1 run spearheaded by tenacious defense and clutch shooting to earn their first regional championship since 1992 with a 59-52 victory over previously undefeated Old Town at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Third-seeded Ellsworth (17-4) will take on South champion Spruce Mountain in next Saturday’s state championship game at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland while top-seeded Old Town, which had beaten the Eagles by five points in the regular season, finishes 20-1.
After Taylor Loring hit a corner 3-pointer with just more than a minute to play to put the Coyotes up 51-50, Ellsworth did not allow Old Town another field goal the rest of the way, with Lily Bean’s foul-line jumper giving Ellsworth the lead for good.
Ellsworth’s Aaliyah Manning (#12) and Addison Atherton (#14) cheer as the ref calls a foul on Old Town in the last moments of the Class B North girls regional championship game Saturday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Ellsworth won the game59-52. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN
A steal and layup from Elizabeth Boles and two free throws off a steal by Morgan Clifford gave Ellsworth some breathing room, and coach Andy Pooler’s club hit its free throws down the stretch to keep the Coyotes at bay.
After trailing by as many as nine early in the second quarter and seeing Gabrielle Cody pick up three fouls, the Coyotes went to work behind Sage Evans’ 11 second-quarter points.
Old Town also turned up the heat defensively, forcing the Eagles into multitudes of rushed shots and turning that into transition buckets on the other end.
Back to back perimeter buckets from Makayla Emerson and Taylor Loring late in the first half gave the Coyotes their largest lead, and Abby Radel’s 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer was Ellsworth’s only field goal in the last three and a half minutes of the opening half.
Radel’s 21 points led Ellsworth while Evans finished with 26 for Old Town.
Old Town’ Sage Evans (#22) and Ellsworth’s Morgan Clifford battle for a loose ball in first half action of the Class B North girls regional championship game Saturday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN