BANGOR- Chloe Daigle hit 1-2 from the free throw line with 3.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Tuesday afternoon, as the Central Red Devils slipped past the Mattanawcook Academy Lynx 44-43 in a Maine Principals’ Association Class C girls quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center.
#5 Mattanawcook got off to a solid start, scoring the first five points of the game while Central looked out of sync early on. The Red Devils came to life though, as Izzy Allen had six first quarter points and helped to lead a 10-4 run to give her team a 10-9 lead after eight minutes. Six from Kaitlyn Thornton allowed the Lynx to outscore Central 10-9 in the second quarter to tie it 19-19 at the halftime break. The big story was the foul line where Mattanawcook shot 4-12 in the first half. A big third quarter from Izzy Allen (9) and Mary Allen (7) as they had a combined 16 points to put Central up by as many as nine points, as they would lead 35-28 heading to the fourth. The Lynx rallied to tie it 43-43 in the final minute on a Lauren House basket, and then a steal and layup by Megan House. Izzy Allen and Addison Cyr both fouled out for their respective teams late in that final period. Mattanawcook had the ball and a chance to win it with 35 seconds left, but Megan House missed a runner down the lane and Central grabbed the rebound. On the final attempt for the Red Devils with 11.1 seconds remaining, Mary Allen missed a shot down the right side of the lane but Daigle grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled in attempting a putback shot sending her to the foul line. Daigle made the first free throw but stepped over the line for violation on the second, giving their opponents one more chance with still 3.8 seconds on the clock. The Lynx didn’t take a timeout for the final chance from the other end of the court, and the inbounds which was kind of a baseball pass to the other end was tipped away as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Izzy Allen led Central to the win with 21 points and five rebounds (four 3-pointers), before fouling out. Mary Allen added nine points and seven rebounds. Also chipping in for the 17-3 Red Devils was Alexis Whitty with eight points, Rylee Speed with five, and Daigle with the biggest shot of the game had the one free throw for one point and also eight rebounds as they now advance to a semifinal game on Friday at 3:30 p.m. to face Dexter. Kaitlyn Thornton led Mattanawcook in the loss with 13 points and seven rebounds. Lauren House finished with 12 points. Also contributing was Cyr with seven points and 11 rebounds, Megan House with six points and five rebounds, Lily Wotton with three points, and Chloe Wotton with two points. The Lynx ended up 9-19 from the free throw line and won the rebounding battle 30-29, but only had nine total rebounds in the second half as Central had more offensive rebounds than total rebounds for MA in the final 16 minutes. The Lynx end their season at 14-6.
Recap by Chris Lessner/Photos courtesy of Eric Ogden Photography/Videos by Gabe Nason
