BANGOR, Maine- The Southern Aroostook Warriors girls basketball team had beaten their opponent in Mondays quarterfinal game by an average of 51 points in two games in the regular season. It was more of the same when the two met at the Cross Insurance Center. Madison Russell led all scorers with 20 points as the two time defending Class D state champions rolled to an easy 77-22 win over Ashland in a Maine Principals’ Association Class D quarterfinal matchup.
The unbeaten Warriors scored the first 11 points of the game to help them pull away early. The Hornets got their first basket when Willow Hall scored almost four minutes in. Southern Aroostook held a 17-2 lead after one quarter. Russell scored eight points in the second quarter to help the Warriors score 20 more points and build the advantage to 37-11 at halftime.
The top seed would continue to roll in the third helped by nine more points for Russell and six off the bench from Callie Russell, stretching the advantage to 60-20 at the end of the third. Southern Aroostook (19-0) got the bench involved more in the fourth to outscore Ashland 17-2 leading to the games biggest advantage and final margin of 55 points.
The top scorer Russell also added six rebounds and five steals in the win for Southern Aroostook. Makaelyn Porter had 15 points and four assists. Emma Nadeau also got into double figures with 12 points. Kacy Daggett chipped in eight points and eight rebounds, while both Cami Shields and C. Russell contributed six points each. Lexi Lynn Rackliff and Paige Vose had three points each, and Brianna Daggett along with Emily Stewart also got into the scorebook with two points a piece. The Warriors outrebounded the Hornets 32-16 and shot 12-19 from the foul line.
Ashland, who finishes their season at 9-11, was led by Hall who had eight points and eight rebounds. Jamie Poulin and Kaitlyn Dotson each had four points. McKenna Condon added three points, Danni Carter had two, and Hailee Cunningham had a free throw for one point. The Hornets shot 6-15 from the line.
Southern Aroostook will meet Shead in a semifinal matchup on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The Warriors and Tigerettes have combined to win the last four regional titles, with Shead winning it in 2016 and 2017 and Southern Aroostook taking the last two in 2018 and 2019.
