Central guard Alison Shaw looks to inbound a pass to Abigail Allen during fourth quarter action during the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Classic in Bangor on Saturday. Kyla Perkins (20) and Makenzie Alley (22) defend for Searsport. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
BANGOR, Maine- Emilee Cohen scored 20 points on Saturday afternoon to help the Central Red Devils defeat the Searsport Vikings 55-36 in a girls Class C North basketball game as part of the Hall of Fame Holiday Classic at the Cross Insurance Center.
Central (5-2) held an early 8-2 lead, before Searsport scored eight of the final 12 points to cut the deficit to 12-10 after the opening eight minutes. Cohen and Abigail Allen both had five first quarter points for the Red Devils. Baskets from Abigail Young and Cohen increased the lead back to six at 16-10, before four points by the Vikings MaKenzie Alley wedged around a Cohen 1-2 effort from the line made it 17-14. Central though would finish the first half strong on a 12-3 run sparked by a three-pointer from Rylee Speed, 5-6 from the line, and baskets from Cohen and Allen to take a 29-17 lead into the halftime break.
The Red Devils third quarter was the one that decided this matchup. Central scored the first 11 points to stretch that first half run to 23-3 to go up by 23 and outscored Searsport (1-6) 19-7 and led 48-24 headed to the final eight minutes. Cohen had seven of those 19 points in that decisive period as the lead grew to as many as 26. The Vikings took advantage of Red Devil turnovers to open the final quarter on a 12-0 run to cut the big lead down to 12 at 48-36. Alley had 11 of those 12 points. Central finally scored with 1:36 left when Cohen knocked down 1-2 from the line, and they went on to score the final seven points with the last six coming on baskets by Alison Shaw, Cohen, and Taylor Caruso.
Cohen added six rebounds to go along with her team high point total in the Central win. Allen had 12 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Shaw added 10 points. Also scoring for the Red Devils was Speed with five points. Young, Caruso, and Gabrielle Poulin had two points each. America Noonan and Britni Grant each also added a free throw for one point. Alley led Searsport with 20 points and 10 rebounds (14 pts in second half). Kyla Perkins had nine points, while Abby Astbury had three. Laura Warman along with Abby Stemp rounded out the scoring with two points each.
Both teams had ball control trouble as the Vikings had 38 turnovers, and the Red Devils committed 24 miscues. Searsport outrebounded Central 29-21. After no free throw attempts in the first half the Vikings finished 7-14, while the Red Devils were 14-18. Both teams return to action Thursday as Central hosts George Stevens Academy, and Searsport visits Penobscot Valley (PVHS).
