Grace Jaffray had a game-high 28 points on Wednesday night, as the Ellsworth Eagles outscored the Old Town Coyotes 17-6 in the fourth quarter in a 53-48 Class B girls basketball win in a battle of two North heavyweights at MacKenzie Gymnasium in Old Town.
In a rematch of the North Championship game in Bangor in February won by Ellsworth on their way to the state title, there were seven lead changes and four ties in this one that certainly again had a tournament feel between the two rivals. Jaffray had 12 points in the first quarter, as the Eagles would finish the period on an 8-0 run to lead 20-15 after the opening eight minutes after allowing the first six points of the contest. Ellsworth built that advantage to 25-18 on a three-pointer by Elizabeth Boles, before Old Town closed the first half on a 8-2 run to close within 27-26 at the break.
The third quarter was back and forth, as the teams swapped the lead four times over the first couple of minutes. After a conventional three-point play by Jaffray made it 34-30 Eagles, the Coyotes came alive again to take back a six point lead with a 12-2 spurt at 42-36 headed into the fourth. Sage Evans and Alexis Degrasse combined for all 12 of those points for Old Town. After another Evans basket made it 44-39 in favor of the hosts, Ellsworth went on an 8-0 run capped off by a Jaffray three-pointer to put her team ahead for good 47-44 with 3:50 remaining. Evans converted a three-point play with 1:55 to go to get Old Town within 49-48, before Lily Bean sank two free throws to push it back to three 35 seconds later. Jaffray drew a charging foul on Karina Dumond on the other end on the next possession, and the Eagles iced the victory with 1-2 efforts from the line by both Abby Radel and Jaffray in the final 30 seconds to stay unbeaten.
Evans led Old Town in the loss with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocked shots. Degrasse had 13 points, and Taylor Loring added 11 (three 3-pointers). Also scoring was Makayla Emerson with four points and Danica Brown with three, as they suffer their first defeat of the year falling to 6-1. The Coyotes had 23 rebounds and shot 4-11 from the line. Jaffray added 15 rebounds to her 28 points in the win for 7-0 Ellsworth. Addison Atherton chipped in nine points and seven rebounds. Also scoring was Boles and Radel with five points a piece, Bean with four, and Megan Jordan with two. The Eagles had 35 rebounds and hit 11-16 at the charity stripe. Ellsworth is back in action on Friday at MDI, while Old Town will host Houlton on Saturday.
Recap by Chris Lessner/Stats and photo provided by Gabe Nason
