AUGUSTA — From devastation to jubilation, the Rangeley girls’ basketball team has come a long way in a year.
A devastating loss last February lingered in the Lakers’ hearts and souls after a last-second shot fell and ruined their hopes of a Western D title, and they’ve spent much of the past year trying to put it behind them.
“We did a lot of soul searching after last year,” Rangeley coach Heidi Deery said. “We had a little post-traumatic stress from last year, myself included. That was hard emotionally for the kids and to come back from that, probably the biggest thing, I knew in the loss, would be a huge opportunity for growth. You just keep plugging away and you never give up.”
The Lakers completed their journey Saturday, replacing those painful memories with a new feeling they hope will forever linger, earning that long-awaited regional title with a 39-22 win over Richmond at the Augusta Civic Center.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” senior forward Taylor Esty said. “We’ve lost three years in a row and to come back my senior year and win it, words can’t even describe it.”
It is the Lakers’ first Western D title since 2004. They will take on defending Class D state champion Washburn on Saturday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Rangeley has been to eight of the past 10 regional finals — and lost the previous seven. Last year’s loss to Forest Hills was the most stunning. Rangeley was up late, until a last-second 3-pointer from the Tigers stunned the Lakers.
At first we weren’t really talking about it,” senior guard Valerie Roy-Lessard said. “We avoided the question. Then I think throughout the season, we started using it as motivation to do something different this year and make it our year.”
The look on the Lakers’ faces prior to Saturday morning’s game with Richmond was one of steely-eyed determination. Rangeley cruised through the regular season this year and weren’t going to be denied this time around.
“I had no nerves today,” said Esty, who was presented the Patricia Gallagher Award for the tourney’s top player. “We’ve been here so many times. I was just so relaxed to play out there.”
Esty led the Lakers (20-0) with 15 points, while Blayke Morin had 11. Seve Deery-DeRaps had seven. Richmond (14-7) got nine each from Kelsea Anair and Sydney Tilton.
After a close call against Searsport on Friday, the Lakers came out better prepared against the Bobcats. Though it was an offensive struggle early, the Lakers knew what it would take to push through, especially after trailing by as many as seven the day before.
“I definitely think that competition made today, I won’t say easier, but we had less nerves because we were so worked up yesterday,” Esty said. “I’m actually thankful we had that game yesterday against Searsport.”
Rangeley struggled offensively early as both clubs were sloppy in the first quarter. The Lakers could be patient on the offensive end because the defense was so stellar. Rangeley’s defense turned the tide in the second half against Searsport and picked up where it left off Saturday morning.
“Offensively we haven’t come down here and played like I thought we could and should for 32 minutes, but our defense held up for us,” Deery-DeRaps said. “I just felt our defense kept us in it.”
Richmond shot just 1-for-8 in the first quarter and had eight turnovers while the Bobcats shot just 2-for-13 in the second with five turnovers. Rangeley opened a quick 8-3 lead in the first, led by four points from Morin and a basket from Natasha Haley and free throws from Esty.
“We’ve been working on that defense the last two weeks,” junior guard Maddison Egan said. “Having the defense up the lines and having them in the passing lanes, we executed that today. We’ve been working on fast breaking too. So defense turns into offense.”
Rangeley hit just one of its first seven shots in the second second. Richmond got baskets by Tilton and Kalah Patterson to cut the lead to 10-7 with 1:40 left. The Bobcats also watched Morin pick up her third foul and head to the bench.
That may have worked against Richmond. With Morin out, Sydney Royce and Michaela Shorey did a nice job off the bench, and Esty took over scoring the next six points to open the lead. She scored in the post and then hit two free throws to end the half with a 14-7 led. Then she hit a short jumper to open the second half. Morin scored in the post for an 18-7 lead. It was part of a 10-2 run that the Bobcats never overcame.
“It was definitely a huge motivation and push for me,” Esty said. “I wasn’t going to let this game end in a way that we didn’t want it to. I was going home with the Western Maine title this year.”
Richmond got within nine twice in the third, but the Lakers broke the lead open to 29-15 after three. Esty had nine points in the third while Morin had five. The Lakers continued to click offensively to finish the job. Deery-DeRaps had six in the final quarter, including a 3. Haley had a basket and Maddison Egan added a pair of free throws as the Lakers bumped the lead up to 19.
“This year, with every time out, they were like ‘This isn’t over. We’ve got to play eight minutes. We’ve got to play five minutes,'” Deery said. “Those are things that I say but I think they’ve bought into the belief that you don’t ever assume until the final buzzer.”
This time, that final buzzer, brought joy and celebration that has been a long time coming.
“Three years in a row and losing, it’s not really sunk in yet,” Roy-Lessard said. “We’ve been working really hard to get here and to finally be here is great.”
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