BANGOR, Maine — Lewiston High School girls’ basketball coach Josh Morin said his senior daughter Koral Morin usually doesn’t like taking last-second shots.
She had no choice on Friday night as time was winding down and her long 3-pointer gave the Blue Devils a dramatic 46-43 come-from-behind Class AA North win over Bangor at the Red Barry Gym.
“I really just shot it with confidence and prayed it would go in,” said Koral Morin, who led all scorers with 24 points and was positioned to the left side of the key. “We needed a shot, so I had to get it up. It felt good leaving my hands.”
“I was surprised she took it. I thought she was going to pass. I’m glad she did, though,“ said her proud father.
It was the second straight game for the Rams in which they lost on a buzzer-beater as Brewer’s Gabrielle Roberts converted an offensive rebound to beat the Rams 43-42 on Tuesday night.
And, for the second consecutive game, the Rams squandered a seven-point, fourth-quarter lead.
Lewiston improved to 7-4 while Bangor fell to 7-3 after losing its third straight game.
Lewiston already has three more wins than it had all of last season.
The Blue Devils trailed by as many as 10 in the first half and were down 24-16 in the half after shooting a dismal 6-for-28 in the first half, including a 2-for-14 showing from beyond the 3-point arc.
But the Blue Devils got back into the game thanks to six 3-pointers on 12 attempts in the second half, and their three-quarter court trap and man-to-man defense forced a number of Bangor turnovers.
“We definitely had a rough shooting first half but we made shots when it really mattered in the second half,” said Lewiston senior guard Natalie Beaudoin, who will play for Vermont next season.
Bangor led by 11 with 3:16 left in the third period, but that’s when Lewiston began its comeback starting with a steal and layup by Morin.
Natalie Beaudoin made a free throw before Morin fed Ellie Legare for a 3-pointer.
Bangor’s Mimi Quinn sank a free throw but Morin nailed a three to make it 33-30 before Bangor’s Avery Clark hit a 10-foot jump shot to close out the quarter.
Quinn converted a Dalaney Horr pass to open the fourth quarter to expand the lead to seven but the Blue Devils scored the next six points, including another three by Legare, to close to within one.
Clark answered with two baskets but a Morin runner and a Natalie Beaudoin three tied it up.
A Morin jumper gave Lewiston the lead with 48 seconds left, but Horr’s layup tied it 15 seconds later to set the stage for Morin’s heroics.
“We had too many turnovers. Our ball possession wasn’t good in the second half,” said Bangor coach Jay Kemble. “And a lot of the turnovers were hurried turnovers. They were unforced. When you limit your turnovers, they get fewer shots, and you get more opportunities to score.”
Morin had three rebounds and three steals to go with her 24 points The six-foot-one Beaudoin had nine points and 11 rebounds, and the other senior starter, Legare, finished with nine points and five rebounds.
“Our seniors won it for us. They’ve been in this situation before. They just kept battling back and then we started making some threes,” said Coach Morin.
Sophomore guard Clark led the Rams with 23 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Emily Adams had 12 points and 12 rebounds and senior Quinn had six points and nine rebounds to go with three assists. Horr had 11 rebounds, two assists and two points.
