An unusual and exciting circumstance came to pass today. Both my hometown (Caribou) high school basketball teams—girls and boys—played in the Maine State finals; Class B. They last advanced together in 1983, when the Lady Vikings won and the men lost.
The boys’ game was a blowout, as Caribou beat York 65-44. But the girls gave a show that people in Aroostook County will talk about for decades. Playing the Biddeford Tigers, the Vikings dominated until the last seconds of the fourth quarter, when their rivals tied the score at 40 and put the game into 4-minute overtime.
Overtime play: With 9 seconds on the clock, and Biddeford up three, a Caribou foul gave a Tiger two free throws. She missed! Both! The Lady Vikings raced the ball down the court, where senior guard Madelynn Deprey was fouled with 1.5 seconds left to play. The plan was for her to sink the first free throw, which she did, but miss the second, bouncing the ball off the rim and giving Caribou a chance to grab it and dunk it—tying the game.
But Deprey sank the second shot, giving the Tigers the ball. With less than a second of play, Caribou couldn’t possibly win. Biddeford led 48-47. And yet…freshman guard Quinn Corrigan intercepted the inbounds pass and was fouled as she attempted to score.
On the clock: .4 seconds. She sank the first basket to tie the game. Then, with not a soul breathing in the stadium, she sank the second to win the championship, 49-48. Go Vikings!
I paid $10 for a month’s access to whou.live to watch both games and the regional finals the previous week. Caribou fans filled the bleachers on one side of the stadium in Portland. They drove about 300 miles for the privilege.
The Featured Image is a screenshot from the televised game, when Corrigan sank one of the two free throws.