A strong first-quarter start and a consistent defensive effort proved to be the championship formula for the Dexter girls basketball team Saturday night.
The top-ranked Tigers roared out to a 17-3 first-half lead and withstood a second-half surge from second-ranked Penobscot Valley to capture the Class C North regional title 34-27 at the Cross Insurance Center.
Penobscot Valley was playing without senior guard Kaya Loring, who suffered an upper-body injury in the Howlers’ semifinal win over Hodgdon on Friday afternoon.
Coach Jody Grant’s 20-1 Tigers will return here for next Saturday’s state championship game while Penobscot Valley finishes 19-2.
Both of the Howlers’ losses came at the hands of the Tigers.
Credit: Kim Higgins / BDN
Dexter asserted its disciplined half-court offense and tenacious player-to-player defense right out of the gate, jumping out to a 14-3 first-quarter lead and holding the Howlers without a field goal over the first 9 and a half minutes.
Even though Penobscot Valley did a solid job of neutralizing 6-foot-2 Tigers forward Mazie Peach inside, Dexter was able to hit some outside shots thanks to its patience, hitting all three of its 3-pointers in the first half.
The Howlers found some life late in the first half after trailing by as many as 14, with a Lila Cummings layup and Holly Loring’s conventional 3-point play pulling PVHS back to within 10 at the break.
Penobscot Valley got as close as five in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers were able to put the clamps down defensively in spite of making only four second-half field goals.
Abilene Corson, who hit all three of her 3-point attempts, led the Tigers with 11 points while Hannah Dean had nine and Peach six points and 15 rebounds.
Holly Loring led all scorers with 15 points, including nine in the second half, for PVHS while Ellie Austin had nine.
Credit: Kim Higgins / BDN
