RANGELEY LAKES REGIONAL SCHOOL
Location: Rangeley
Mascot: Lakers
Regular-season record: 17-0
Key players: Taylor Esty, Sr. F (17 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 spg); Sr. G Seve Deery-DeRaps (16 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 spg); Blayke Morin Jr. F (12 ppg, 3 rpg); Maddison Egan Jr. G (8 ppg, 6 rpg); Natasha Haley Fr. G (7 ppg, 6 rpg, 3 spg).
How they got here: Rangeley met its old rival from Valley in the quarterfinals, but even a rusty Lakers team managed to claim the win quickly. Rangeley scored 28 of the game’s first 30 points and had a 22-2 lead at the half. Deery-DeRaps and Esty each had 11 points to lead the Lakers to the win. The semifinal game wasn’t so easy. Rangeley rallied from behind for the first time this year, produced a strong second half and earned a 39-35 win. Esty led the cause with 16 points while Deery-DeRaps and Morin each had six points in the second half. Rangeley won the regional championship with a 39-22 win over Richmond. Esty led the Lakers with 15 points, including nine in the second half. Morin added 11 as the Lakers pulled away in the second half.
Fun facts: Rangeley won its regular season games by an average of 45 points … The Lakers scored 65.2 points per game and allowed just 20 … This is the 16th straight tourney appearance for the Lakers and 26th overall … Rangeley has three state titles and five regional crowns when ranked No. 1 … The only year they weren’t No. 1 was 2002 and seeded second during the Open Tourney … Coach Heidi Deery was the coach of the 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002 and 2004 teams, and was a player on the 1984 club … The state titles came in 1984, 1993 and 2004 … A Western Class D team has not won the state championship game since Rangeley defeated Lee in 2004.
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