BANGOR — After Medomak Valley made early exits from the Eastern Class B girls’ basketball tournament the last two seasons, Coach Randy Hooper had a good idea what his team needed to do to stick around a little while longer.

Two years ago, we lost to Presque Isle. We got waxed,” Hooper recalled. “We shot it from everywhere. We were just here to soak up the environment. Last year, we wanted to play better, but it didn’t matter.

“This year, when we came here, we were ready to go to work.”

The third-ranked Panthers did just that Friday at the Bangor Auditorium, running away with a 52-30 win against No. 6 Caribou in a regional quarterfinal.

“The first and second years, we were so focused on the excitement of being here,” said Ericka Christensen, a 6-2 senior who led all scorers with 18 points. “The first time we were here we took our shoes off and walked on the court to check it out. But no matter where we are, we’ve got to play our game, so we just focused on that and did what we had to do.”

Medomak Valley relied on solid half-court defense and strong rebounding at both ends of the court.

“When we left here last year, after we played Nokomis, we knew we had to score points in the paint and we had to defend from the 3-point arc,” Hooper said. “In the past, we relied on too much full-court pressure.”

After the first five minutes of the game, Medomak Valley’s hard-nosed defense kept the Vikings from feeling comfortable.

The Panthers forced 13 turnovers in the first half and reeled off a 12-0 run during a five-minute span to open a 20-9 lead with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter.

Alexa Massey and Jamie Martin each hit a 3-pointer to help the Vikings take an early 6-3 lead. But Medomak Valley extended its defense, and Caribou’s shooters didn’t get another good look at a 3-pointer for the rest of the first half.

Medomak Valley (17-2) slowed it down a little bit in the third quarter, when Christensen scored eight points to help the Panthers stretch their lead to 36-23.

Caribou (9-10) made a move during the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. The Vikings closed to within 36-28 on a basket by Jenna Selander and a 3-pointer by Katelyn Tardie. But Medomak Valley sealed the victory with a 16-2 run.

“When they made their move, and cut it to eight in the fourth quarter, you could see it in (our players’) eyes,” Hooper said. “We weren’t going to play not to lose. We were going to play to win, but we were going to be smart about it.”

The Panthers sank 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.

“When we left here last year, we said we’re not going to come back and soak up the sights and sounds,” Hooper said. “We said we were going to work. We came here with a goal of winning in Bangor, and we accomplished that goal. Now, anything can happen.”

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com