DEXTER– Peyton Grant scored 12 of her team high 22 points in the second half to lead the Dexter Tigers to a 41-30 win over Central in the girls basketball Penquis League championship game played Friday evening at Ed Guiski gymnasium.
Izzy Allen scored 10 first quarter points to help the Red Devils jump out to a 12-8 lead after the first quarter. The Red Devils held their biggest lead of seven (16-9) early in the second quarter. Dexter scored the final 10 points of the first half sparked by seven points from Grant as the Tigers held a 19-16 intermission advantage.
The Tigers held a slim 21-20 lead before scoring the final seven points of the third quarter to take a 28-20 lead heading into the final eight minutes. Dexter turned up the defensive pressure only allowing eight points in the middle two quarters.
Central (11-3) got a hoop from Allen and a free throw from Erica Noonan to cut the deficit to 28-23 early in the fourth quarter. Dexter followed up with a 5-0 run to take a comfortable 33-23 lead midway through the fourth. Grant went 6-8 from the free throw line in the final quarter, including her 20th point of the game which was also her career point 1500.
Allen scored a game high 23 points for the Red Devils. She also had six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Abigail Young added four points and four rebounds, while Gabrielle Poulin and Noonan had two and one points respectively. Noonan also had nine rebounds and two assists.
Grant had four rebounds and three assists to go along with her team high point total. Cheyenne Beem filled up the stat sheet with seven points, seven rebounds, six steals, and two assists. Elizabeth Kinney put in seven points, while Jozylnn Paige had three points, 10 rebounds, and two steals, and Abi Wakefield chipped in with two points and five rebounds.
Dexter (14-0) shot 11-16 from the free throw line, while Central shot 4-7. Dexter out rebounded the Red Devils 28-23. The Tigers will host PVHS in a crossover game on Tuesday afternoon. The game can be seen live at Eastern Maine Sports Media starting with pregame coverage at 3:45 PM. The Howlers defeated Stearns 37-26 in the Penobscot League championship game.
Cheyenne Beem and Peyton Grant
