BANGOR- The Shead Tigerettes girls basketball team used a very strong second and third quarter Saturday morning leading them to the Class D Nothern Maine championship with a 44-37 win over the Central Aroostook Panthers.
Central Aroostook took an early 7-2 lead but Shead senior guard Cierra Seeley scored all seven of her teams points in the opening eight minutes and the game was tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Shead ran off a total of eight points straight after falling behind 7-2 and took their first lead at 10-7. The Panthers responded with a 4-0 run to regain the lead at 11-10 but then Shead caught fire. The Tigerettes outscored the Panthers 12-4 to finish the half, including seven points from sophomore forward Cassidy Wilder to take a 22-15 halftime lead. Shead had built the lead to as many as nine.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as Shead junior guard Holly Preston came through with six points and junior Katelyn Mitchell hit a three-pointer just before the third quarter buzzer and Shead had their biggest lead at 36-22.
Shead pushed the lead to as many as 15 at 42-27 and Central Aroostook made one more push but simply ran out of time. Freshman guard Ashlee Harris scored six points to help lead a 10-2 Panther run but that’s how it would end as the Tigerettes would claim the title.
The fourth seeded Central Aroostook Panthers end their stellar season at 14-7. Karli Levesque had 14 points and also seven rebounds. Harris finished with 12 points and five rebounds.
For the third seeded Shead Tigerettes, who improve their record to 15-6, Seeley had 14 points and five rebounds while Wilder finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Preston finished with 8 points while Mitchell also chipped in 6.
Shead will now represent Northern Maine Class D in the State Title game next Saturday afternoon in Augusta. Shead will face South champion Rangely at 1:05 p.m.
