BANGOR- The Hermon Hawks girls basketball team started this season at 2-6 including an opening game loss by 21 to Presque Isle. The Hawks have gone 11-2 since that point and Wednesday afternoon they got their revenge as they beat the Wildcats from PI 59-45 in a Maine Principals’ Association Class B semifinal at the Cross Insurance Center. The seventh seeded Hawks have played giant killers and so far are the cinderella story of the North tournament. The Hawks knocked off the second seeded MDI Trojans in the quarterfinals last Friday before taking down the third seeded Presque Isle Wildcats Wednesday.
The Hawks started quickly, opening up a five point first quarter lead. Allessa Oakes and Emi Higgins combined for nine of Hermons 11 first quarter points as the Hawks led 11-7 after one. Hermon led by as many as six in the second period at 19-13 but the Wildcats ran off a 7-0 run to take a 20-19 halftime lead.
Hermon began to take over in the third quarter and would lead 34-24 before the Wildcats got an unconventional three point play from sophomore Emily Wheaton to make it 34-27 headed to the final eight minutes of regulation. Presque Isle was not done. After Hermon got a three point play from sophomore forward Lauren Plissey to push the lead back to 10, the Wildcats went on a 12-4 surge to make it 41-39. Hawks sophomore guard Alex Allain nailed a three pointer to push the lead back to five at 44-39 and Presque Isle never got closer than five the rest of the way as the Hawks nailed 12 for 16 from the foul line down the stretch to claim a spot in Saturdays Eastern Maine Final. Presque Isle also had a very successful day at the charity stripe as they knocked down 15-16 in the game and Hermon finished 16-22.
For Presque Isle, who finishes up 16-4, Wheaton led the way with 13 points while Olivia Hudson had nine and Emily Lagerstrom and Taylor Williams each contributed eight. Hermon, now 13-8 on the season, got 20 points and six rebounds from Higgins while Lauren Plissey had 12 points and 13 rebounds. Oakes finished with 10 points and Bryanne Crouse also chipped in eight.
Hermon now advances to the Class B regional final against top seeded Houlton Saturday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. Houlton is coming off a regional title last season as they won the state title in Class C before being moved into Class B this season.
