Page 12B, The Bridgton News, February 14, 2013
Continuations
Carter leads Laker rally Laker tourney preview (Continued from Page B) opponent. The Falcons have won six straight games — all against non-playoff teams. Their last loss was a 52-39 decision to Gray-NG. On the other hand, Maranacook would bring somewhat of an uncertainty to the table. Playing against Eastern foes, the Black Bears returned eight starters and won 11 games, including a 61-53 victory over Leavitt. The Bears lost their regular season finale to Gardiner, 56-44. What to watch for: Regardless of opponent, the Lakers will try to create chaos with their full-court pressure. The Lakers tallied 146 steals with guards CeCe Hancock (39) and Sydney Hancock (32) leading the way. If teams break the pressure, they then must contend with center Tiana-Jo Carter, who has been a “difference maker” at both ends of the court. “T” blocked 66 shots, while also recording 37 “tips.” She led the team with 167 defensive and 151 offensive rebounds. With their line-up finally gaining good health, the Lakers have also seen their offense pick up momentum, coming at the expense of
the league’s contenders — Greely, York and Gray-NG. Carter and Kelsey Winslow lead a balanced attack, averaging 12.13 and 12.06 respectively. CeCe Hancock, who has put together a solid rookie year with a team-high 55 assists, is average 8 points per game, while Sydney Hancock, who asserted herself on the offensive end down the stretch after recovering from a leg injury, is averaging 7.13 ppg. She had 43 assists. LR has also received strong play from Sarah Hancock (5.25 ppg and 27 assists) along with Savannah Devoe (64 rebounds). Next up: The semi-finals will be played Thursday, Feb. 21, 4 p.m. at the Cumberland County Civic Center against the #5 Greely/#12 Falmouth vs. #4 Leavitt quarterfinal. Tickets: Adults $8, students $5.
Adaptive Ski benefit Saturday at Highlands A soup, skiing and snowshoeing benefit for the Adaptive Ski Program at Shawnee Peak will be held on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Bridgton Highlands Golf Course. For a $10 donation participants receive: 8.5 miles of free ski trails, a choice of soups, rolls, roasted marshmallows, drawings for day passes to Shawnee Peak and more. Hot chocolate and water will be available. Equipment not provided. The event will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Area college notes
(Continued from Page 11B) (Worcester, Mass.). To make the Dean’s List, Assumption students must achieve a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Eliza Foster of Raymond, who is majoring in Biology, was named to the Elmira College (N.Y.) Dean’s List for the fall 2012 semester. The Dean’s List recognizes students that have a grade point average of 3.6 or higher.
(Continued from Page B) everyone that has gone through the program — has bought into the fact that no one plays harder than we do for 32 minutes. It’s not 6 minutes. It’s not 16 minutes. It’s 32,” LR Coach Paul True said. Effort and emotion brought the Lakers back. Defensively, the Lakers picked it up a notch and created turnovers and tempo over the final 4 minutes of the third quarter. Sarah Hancock swished a mid-range jumper, Sydney Hancock rolled in a soft flip shot in the lane and Winslow out worked Gray’s frontline to haul in an offensive rebound and scored on a follow-up. Like that, the Lakers were down just 36-34 entering the final eight minutes. Those 8 belonged to the Lakers, at both ends of the court. Senior Savannah Devoe made just one shot on the night, but it proved to be a game changer. Devoe drilled a 3-pointer to start the final quarter, triggering a 7-0 run to put her club ahead 41-36. “One of the successes tonight was going with a little bigger line-up. I’ve been getting on Kelsey (Winslow) and Savannah (Devoe) a little bit about attacking and getting to the rim. Savannah answered the call. The shot she hit was just awesome. She just caught and shot without thinking about it. Huge moment for a senior,” Coach True said. “You never know when opportunity is going to knock on your door. We stress every day that you need to prepare to open that door. Tonight, Savannah did that.” Gray-NG was held scoreless for the first 3 minutes until Valente drained a straight-away trey. The Patriots struggled mightily against an aggressive Laker defense, which did not allow another G-NG field goal until 9.5 seconds left in the game. Meanwhile, that same LR aggressiveness was seen at the other end as Carter, Winslow and Devoe pounded the boards to gain their team second and third shot opportunities. Carter had six rebounds and three blocked shots. “Coach keeps emphasizing to Kelsey and I that we need to make strong moves to the basket and go into defenders. We tend to fade away too much. I think we’re improving,” Carter said.
SUPPORT OF LAKER BASKETBALL RECOGNIZED — Whit Lesure, whose son Jack is a member of the Lake Region High School boys’ basketball team, was named this year’s recipient of the Bill Shane Award in recognition of his support of the Laker hoop program. Lesure, who is the head basketball coach at Bridgton Academy, was recognized last Thursday during Senior Night. He is pictured here with LRHS head boys’ basketball coach J.P. Yorkey. Carter came up with a huge offensive rebound off a missed foul shot. Her score made it 4439. The Patriots then tossed the ball away. Carter again came up with another offensive rebound off a missed foul shot, and connected on a pair of free throws to put the game on ice. “It (our defense) wears on people. We know that the game is full of ebbs and flows. We will have opportunities that we can put some points up on the board quickly. The kids just fight — fight the whole time,” Coach True said. “I thought everybody did a great job maintaining their composure. We went down 11 or 12 at one point. There was no panic. We didn’t start doing things that we’re not accustomed to do. Kids showed a lot of poise.” Carter felt the hard-fought game fully prepares the Lakers for the upcoming tournament. “I don’t think we ever like being down, but it can be a good
thing because it made our teamwork harder. It made us aware that we just can’t enter a game and think we have it won. We need to put all our effort into it — each time we’re out there,” she said. “I love that everybody is into the game. We’re almost healthy, and if we keep playing the way we have been, we’re going to do great in the tournament.” Coach True shares that optimism as the Lakes prepare for their quarterfinal game this coming Tuesday. “I really feel good about our mindset and our health right now. At the same time, we’re not satisfied with what we’ve done to this point. I am looking forward to the tournament,” he said. “The kids know better not to be overconfident. That’s not what we’re about. We want to make each other better every single day. If we continue to approach our business that way, then I am
going to be very satisfied.” After a long, grinding season that saw the Lakers battle injuries, it is time for a little rest and relaxation before it is back to work to defend the West title. “We’ve gone back and forth on this for the past two weeks, and believe that a little rest and relaxation will do this squad some good,” Coach True said. “We have plenty of leadership on the team that we’re not going to have any letdowns.” For the Lakers, Winslow scored 10 points, Sydney Hancock had 9 points, Sarah Hancock 3, Miranda Chadbourne 2 and CeCe Hancock 2. For Gray, Cote, Dehetre and Stephanie Greaton each had 8 points, Valente 6, Julia Martell 4, Sammie Wilkins 3, Zoe Adams 2, Grace Ferguson 1. Rebounds: LR 36, GNG 19. Free Throws: LR 7-12, GNG 6-12. Turnovers: LR 11, GNG 17.
TF4
1T7