PORTLAND — In a star-studded Class A girls’ basketball final, one of the best Maine has ever seen, York’s headliners simply had the last word and their Lawrence counterparts cruelly ran out of time.
Chloe Smedley’s catch-and-shoot jumper and Shannon Todd’s backdoor layup gave the Wildcats a three-point edge in the final minute of regulation Saturday afternoon. The defending Class A champion Bulldogs could retaliate only with a Nia Irving putback as time ran out on a 58-57 York victory at Cross Insurance Arena.
“Back in the summer we talked about how it could be a storybook ending, but I said, ‘Fairy tales don’t always end the way you want them to.’ We’ll take it,” York coach Rick Clark said. “I was worried we would foul Irving on that shot and go to overtime.”
Smedley finished with 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting to go with five rebounds and four assists. Todd scratched out six points, five rebounds and five assists for York (22-0).
Both were saddled with foul trouble throughout. So was Irving, who sat out an eight-minute segment of the second half after picking up her fourth personal. She settled for 14 points and 11 rebounds, each total just above half her season averages.
“We just trusted each other all season. That’s what made us win the game,” Smedley said. “It was a little scary for me personally, but I just brushed it off and I knew our bench would step it up like they have all season.”
Mia Briggs and Maddie Cogger added nine points apiece for the Wildcats.
Domi Lewis led Lawrence (21-1) with 19. She scored eight of those to will her Bulldogs back from a 39-32 deficit to a 53-49 lead with five minutes left, most of it accomplished in Irving’s absence.
“When Nia went out with four fouls, the kids stepped up and we stayed with them. In fact, we went ahead. They did everything they could to stay in the game,” Lawrence coach John Donato said. “It was a great basketball game. I just wish we had a little more time.”
York won its fourth state title and its first since 2010 in its initial Class A campaign. Lawrence was seeking its sixth Gold Ball.
The lead changed hands 13 times.
Cogger canned a 3-pointer and Morgan Chapman scored down low for a 54-53 York edge at the 4:20 mark.
“We weren’t going very far without Nia on the floor. You don’t take 25 points and 20 rebounds out,” Donato said. “We stayed even with them, then when we brought her in, we made a couple of defensive mistakes and bang, they hit a 3.”
Irving’s defensive rebound set up Molly Folsom for a layup ahead of the pack and a 55-54 Lawrence lead with 1:20 left.
Briggs located Smedley at the top of the key for the quick reply.
“That’s the way they played all year,” Clark said. “They don’t give up. It doesn’t faze them to be down even seven points. They just get right back at it.”
Todd made a steal and Lawrence was whistled for a traveling violation down the stretch.
It gave the Wildcats a chance to bleed the clock. Todd found a seam, collected a pass from Lily Posternak and cashed in with 18 seconds to go.
“They were going to foul or try to get the ball on steals,” Todd said. “I knew they were going to leave someone open, so I just stepped into the block and I was wide open.”
Camryn Caldwell’s bid for the tying 3-pointer rolled around the rim and out.
It took two tries for Irving to clean up the remnants, and Lawrence didn’t have time to prevent the clock from hitting all zeroes.
“Hey, it was one of those games where they would hit a three and we hit a two,” Donato said. “You couldn’t ask for a better-played game.”
Lawrence’s largest lead was 20-12 on a Morgan Boudreau 3-pointer to open the second quarter.
Smedley and Todd each acquired three fouls before the half, but Smedley scored 10 points in the second period to resuscitate the Wildcats.
Briggs drained a go-ahead basket off an Emma Thomson steal late in the half. Cogger’s short jumper just inside the horn out York up 32-30 at the break.
“A lot of people stepped up for us today, just like Lawrence when they played without Irving,” Clark, who is expected to retire after his 509th career win, said. “If it’s a team, it’s a team.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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