The Winslow High School girls basketball team cruised through a regional quarterfinal win over Mt. Desert Island. The Winslow boys, on the other hand, needed to rally with a last-second shot to hold off Oceanside and advance. Now, each Black Raider squad is ready for a tough semifinal game.
Both Winslow teams return to action Wednesday in the Class B North semifinals at Bangor’s Cross Center. The sixth-seeded girls (15-5) will face No. 2 John Bapst (15-4) at 2:05 p.m. The Winslow boys (16-3), the No. 4 seed, will face top-seed Hermon (19-0) at 8:35 p.m.
Neither Winslow team faced their semifinal opponent in the regular season.
“We’ve seen (Bapst) play multiple times from scouting other teams,” Winslow girls basketball coach Lindsey Withee said.
The Crusaders advanced with a 52-48 quarterfinal win over Waterville. The Crusaders are led by seniors Grace Phillipon, Crystal Bell and Abbey Legasse. That trio scored 35 of the team’s 52 points in the win over Waterville, with Legasse leading the way with 16. The Black Raiders have to be aware of ball screens designed to get Phillipon and Bell open looks, Withee said.
In the quarterfinals, Winslow led Mt. Desert Island by 30 points, 53-23, after three quarters, but scored just two points in the fourth, winning 55-34. Withee said one lackluster offensive quarter isn’t too much of a concern.
“My one concern was we seemed to try to stop scoring, and the plan wasn’t to stop scoring,” Withee said.
The win over the Trojans highlighted the Black Raiders’ offensive depth. Nine players scored for Winslow, with five players making at least one 3-pointer.
The Winslow boys advanced when Jake Lapierre scored on a putback shot as the game ended, beating Oceanside 39-38. In Hermon, the Black Raiders face a team that dominated its conference all season. The Hawks and Black Raiders share three common opponents: Oceanside, Foxcroft and Belfast. Each swept a pair of games from Foxcroft. Hermon beat Oceanside twice in the regular season. Winslow was 2-2 against the Mariners, winning once in the regular season and in Saturday’s quarterfinal, while losing in the regular season and Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship game. Winslow defeated Belfast twice in the regular season, while the Hawks knocked off the Lions in the quarterfinals, 67-40.
“I know they’re really good. I know they’ve got good players and they’re well-coached. They’ve got three great players and they play great defense,” Winslow coach Ken Lindlof said of Hermon.
In the win over Belfast, Hermon was led by the quartet of Jacob Godfrey (15 points), Isaac Varney (12 point), Keenan Marsaille (10 points) and Cody Hawes (10 points). Winslow’s strength all season has been defense. The Black Raiders have allowed more than 60 points just once. The Black Raiders will need to play another strong defensive game to pull off the upset, Lindlof said.
“They don’t beat themselves. It’s going to be another tall task for us for sure,” Lindlof said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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