AUGUSTA — Forest Hills’ plan to limit Vinalhaven’s Gilleyanne Davis-Oakes opened up the perimeter for the Vikings’ other shooters early in Saturday’s Class D South girls’ basketball final.
The Vikings used it as an opening to their first regional title in 33 years.
For the first quarter-plus, Forest Hills had guard Demitria Giroux sag down and bracket Davis-Oakes in the post, leaving another Viking open on the perimeter. Rather than force it inside, guards Paige Dennison, Deja Doughty and Ashlyn Littlefield took what was given to them.
The result was a 12-0 run to start the game, and ultimately, No. 2 Vinalhaven’s first regional title since 1984 with a 61-45 victory over No. 5 Forest Hills.
Littlefield finished with 18 points to lead the Vikings. Davis-Oakes, who was named the tournament’s outstanding player, had 15 and 13 rebounds.
The opening run featured back-to-back 3-pointers by Dennison. After Caitlin Logston (24 points, 15 rebounds) scored the Tigers’ first points of the game with 22 seconds left in the quarter, Doughty drilled a jumper to end the period with a 14-2 lead.
“They hit shots,” Forest Hills coach Anthony Amero said. “We tried to force it into other kids’ hands, and they stepped up. We needed to do better at the offensive end to compete and we just couldn’t buy a basket.”
“Anthony’s a smart coach and we saw them do that against Rangeley (in the semifinals),” Vinalhaven coach Sandy Nelson said. “We figured that was coming, and we just said, ‘Just run your offense, run your offense, run your offense.’ Paige and Deja can shoot from the outside. That’s the difference.”
A pair of jumpers by Littlefield forced Forest Hills to abandon the plan. While it opened up the paint for Davis-Oakes, the Vikings continued to hit from the outside. Back-to-back hoops by Doughty (eight points, 11 assists), including a 3, gave Vinalhaven a 27-13 cushion at halftime.
A basket by Alexandra Lessard and a 3 from Logston briefly gave the Tigers some hope to start the second half, but Vinalhaven answered with a 14-0 run to remove all doubt.
Vinalhaven (17-4) will face Shead in the state final at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Forest Hills finishes its season at 12-9.
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