Southern Aroostook’s Callie Russell, 52, and Madison Russell, 15, carry the Golden Ball trophy as they celebrate after the Warriors beat Seacoast Christian 68-30 to win the Class D girls’ basketball state championship on Monday in Bangor. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
BANGOR — The 2022-2023 season ended with yet another Gold Ball for the Southern Aroostook girls’ basketball team.
The Warriors turned a 30-0 run between the first and second quarters into a 68-30 victory over Seacoast Christian in the Class D final Monday night at the Cross Insurance Center. It’s the second straight title and the fourth in the last five seasons for Southern Aroostook.
Madison Russell scored 19 points for the Warriors, who finished 19-3. Cami Shields added 17 points.
“It’s been a long year for sure,” Russell said. “We went through some adversity, but I think in the long run it helped us and we got to win the Gold Ball.”
Seacoast Christian finished 12-10. Breckyn Winship led the Guardians with 16 points.
The Warriors and Guardians traded leads early, but Southern Aroostook started its run midway through the first to pull away. Russell scored 10 of her 19 points during the run, and Shields added 11 of her 17 points during the stretch.
“Coming into the week, we knew it’d be a different game than last year,” Russell said. “And it was. They stuck with us for a little bit and gave us a run for our money for the first few minutes. But then we came out and our shots started falling.”
The game was a rematch of last year’s Class D championship, which Southern Aroostook won 58-18. It’s the fifth straight Class D final appearance for the Warriors, with their only blemish coming in a 42-38 loss to Greenville in the 2020 state final.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL
SOUTHERN AROOSTOOK 83, FOREST HILLS 56: Dylan Burpee had 36 points and the Warriors (21-0) beat the Tigers (18-3) to win their second straight Class D state championships.
Burpee scored 24 points in the first half for Southern Aroostook. Graham Siltz had 21 points and Buddy Porter added 13.
Mason Desjardins scored 34 points and Cooper Daigle had 11 for Forest Hills.
BOYS’ HOCKEY
CAPE ELIZABETH 7, CHEVERUS/YARMOUTH 2: The second-seeded Capers (17-2) stormed back from an early two-goal deficit to beat the third-seeded Cheverus/Yarmouth co-op team at Troubh Arena in Portland and earn a spot in the Class B South regional final.
Cape Elizabeth will face No. 4 York, which beat top-seeded Brunswick 5-2, in the regional final at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
After falling behind 2-0 less than four minutes into the game, Cape Elizabeth answered with first-period goals by Brady Hanisko, Dimitri Coupe and Alex Thayer. In the second period, Colin Blackburn, Nick Laughlin and Sebastian Moon scored, and Brody Glidden scored in the third period.
YORK 5, BRUNSWICK 2: Luke Douris scored a hat trick and Aidan McQuaide stopped 26 shots as the fourth-ranked Wildcats (12-7-1) knocked off the defending Class B state champion Dragons (15-2-1) at Watson Arena in Brunswick to reach the Class B South regional final.
York advances to face No. 2 Cape Elizabeth, which beat No. 3 Cheverus/Yarmouth 7-2, in the regional final at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cross Insurance Arena.
Douris scored twice in the first five minutes to give York a 2-0 lead. Tyler Conant scored later in the first before Brunswick scored once in the second and twice in the third to get within one. Douris finished his hat trick with 6:02 left.
– Dave Dyer of the Kennebec Journal contributed to this report.
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