PORTLAND — To simulate the speed of Leavitt High’s girls’ basketball players, Cape Elizabeth Coach Chris Roberts brought in some boys last week to practice against her team.

Even that didn’t work.

Second-ranked Leavitt rattled the young Capers with an aggressive, in-your-face press in the first quarter to get things rolling in a 67-39 victory in the Western Class B quarterfinals at the Portland Expo.

After about 90 seconds of scoreless play, the Hornets finally broke the ice, then created turnovers off its press on four consecutive possessions, flashing out to a 12-0 lead. Cape Elizabeth had 12 of its 26 turnovers in the first quarter.

“You just can’t simulate that in practice,’’ said Roberts, “that speed and … those are athletic kids who do a very good job of playing basketball. And it’s the bright lights and trying to get used to this whole tournament thing, and before you know it, bam, they’re right on top of you.

“We settled down after that first onslaught. But you can’t spot a team like that that kind of lead.’’

The Hornets (19-0) will play No. 3 Lake Region (17-2) in the semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Cape Elizabeth finished 9-10.

It was a typical performance for the Hornets, who like to run, press and shoot.

“We’re definitely an in-your-face type of team,’’ said Courtney Anderson, a senior guard. “We don’t want to rely on our half-court offense to win us games. We want to create the tempo and make teams play our way.’’

The Hornets always look to establish that tempo early and rattle their opponents. If they’re not forcing turnovers on defense, they’re pushing the ball offensively and crashing the boards.

“They’re relentless, 84 feet or 94 feet, it doesn’t matter,’’ said Cape’s Roberts. “They want the ball. And I think that’s the best thing for my kids to see. They don’t give up until the ball either goes in for them or they’ve done everything they can to get a second, third or fourth shot.’’

With the score 12-0, Roberts called a timeout to try to settle her players. Cape’s game plan was to slow the game down as much as possible – Leavitt averages nearly 80 points a game, the Capers in the 30s – but it was no longer feasible after falling behind so early.

Kayla Raftice hit a 3-pointer for the Capers to make it 12-3, but the Hornets ended the quarter on a 10-0 run to lead 22-3.

They didn’t press the rest of the way. They didn’t need to. The damage had been done.

“Usually we try to get out quick,’’ said Leavitt Coach Tammy Anderson. “(We) fire up off of steals and quick defensive transitions. Once I saw we started to get in front of them, it made me relax a bit as a coach, knowing it’s turning into what we want as a tempo.’’

“We just love running and pressing,’’ said sophomore guard Kristen Anderson, who led the Hornets with 21 points. “We’re all athletic, we all can run the floor and play defense, great defense, make people throw passes they shouldn’t be throwing.’’

Adrianna Newton added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Courtney Anderson had 11 points.

The win moved the Hornets one step closer to a showdown with top-ranked York. All season long, those teams have been 1-2 in the Heal point standings.

“Basically, we’re just taking it one game at a time,’’ said Kristen Anderson. “And hopefully, if we do our job, we’ll get to that game that everyone has been talking about.’’

Cape Elizabeth was led by Raftice with 12 points and Marlo Dell’Aquila with 10.

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:
mlowe@pressherald.com