AUGUSTA — Through the first two games of the Class D South tournament Rangeley senior Blayke Morin played the role of facilitator, passing to open teammates, rebounding and occasionally scoring.
In Saturday afternoon’s championship game, Morin took over at the offensive end. The 6-foot-2 senior scored a career-high 34 points to lead the Lakers to a 58-33 victory over third-seeded Vinalhaven at the Augusta Civic Center.
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The regional title was the second in a row for top-seeded Rangeley (20-1), which returns to the Civic Center floor next Saturday for the Class D state championship game against Shead High School of Eastport.
Shead (15-6) sank Central Aroostook 44-37 in the D North final Saturday. Vinalhaven finishes its season at 16-5.
Rangeley’s balanced scoring over the first two tournament games worked out well for Morin and the Lakers.
“I told Blayke if I could have written a script for this week and have somebody else score for us in the first two games I would have done it,” Rangeley coach Heidi Deery said. “Because they had to pay attention to other people.”
The Lakers got off to a quick start and in many respects won the game in the first quarter when they forced 13 Viking turnovers, most off their full-court press. Morin scored 13 points in the quarter, which ended with Rangeley up 21-2.
“Two weeks of practicing and a scrimmage, we were itching for a game and we wanted to get out there as soon as we could,” Morin said. “So when we did it was just like a practice. Our bench gives us better defense than anyone else can so they pressured us to be better.”
Morin added eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists and was the named the tournament’s outstanding player. She also guarded leading scorer Gilleyanne Davis-Oakes and held her to 10 points.
“I wanted to guard her,” Morin said. “I wanted to shut her down and I think I did that OK.”
The Vikings battled back into the game in the second quarter when they forced seven turnovers and outscored the Lakers 10-4. Sophomore Deja Doughty scored four of her team-high 12 points in the quarter, which ended with Rangeley in front 27-12. Deery adjusted her defense at the half.
“Once we made the adjustment to stop their penetration, which we had been allowing . . . I felt like we got back to where we wanted to be.”
Morin set up her teammates several times with back-door passes from the high post. Sophomore Sydney Royce, who scored 22 points, was on the receiving end of some of those.
Davis-Oaks sat out part of the third quarter and the Lakers went right to Morin, who scored a quick six to push the lead to 41-27. Morin found Royce on a cut to the hoop to make it 43-27 at the break.
Morin is one of two seniors on a team with five freshmen and three eighth-graders. Their development since an opening night loss to Richmond has been dramatic.
“This is the most growth, player for player, (I’ve coached) all the way down the line,” Deery said. “They’re supposed to be coached and they want that. We just stuck together and they’re just so coachable.”
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