In the game of basketball it is simply a fact that foul shots win games and lose games. Tuesday night in Hermon, the Lady Hawks showed how you win games from the foul line as they went 18-24 in the fourth quarter to hold off a Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln rally for a 55-47 Eastern Maine Class B preliminary game victory. No. 7 Hermon (11-8) advances to the Bangor Auditorium for their first appearance in the Eastern Maine tournament since 2005, and they will face No. 2 MDI at 9:05 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 13. Mattanawcook Academy (No. 10) finishes their season at 11-8.
Hermon's Ripley King puts up a shot in front of MA's Taylor Hawkins during the first half of Tuesday night's Eastern Maine Class B preliminary game in Hermon. The Hawks won the game 55-47. MSR photo by Skip Hawkes
Kayla Snow and Ripley King sparked the Hawks with six points each in the first quarter to lead Hermon to a 12-9 score. King, Snow, and Victoria Davenport provided the offense in the second quarter as Hermon out scored MA 13-4 to take a 25-13 lead into half time. King added six more points in the second quarter, and a 3-point basket by Snow late in the period put Hermon on top by 10 at 23-13. Davenport made it a 12 point margin scoring from the right wing with six seconds left on the clock.
Hermon's Kayla Snow looks to drive past MA's Brittany Libbey during the first half. MSR photo by Skip Hawkes
Snow, a freshman who comes off the bench, was crucial to the Hawks first half lead scoring all nine of her game points in the half. She was also very vocal on the floor, and the future leadership of the team can already be seen in Snow in her first year.
The Hawks again out scored the Lynx in the third quarter with a 12-8 score. Dani Ross knocked down two 3-pointers and Davenport added four more points to help give Hermon a 16 point (37-21) lead heading into the final period.
MA’s pressure defense forced a number of Hermon turnovers during the final period as the Lynx forged a rally and got as close as six points after a 3-point basket by Abby Paul with 1:07 to play made the score 51-45. MA out scored the Hawks 26-18 in the period, but simply just ran out of time as Hermon continued to make their foul shots down the stretch. The Hawks, who did not have a foul shot attempt during the first three quarters, scored all 18 of their fourth quarter points from the foul line. Ashley Thayer went 6-8, Davenport 7-10, Marisa Kelley 3-4, and King 2-2 to account for the scoring. MA’s Brittany Libbey and Jessica Fortin led the Lynx fourth quarter comeback attempt with eight and seven points respectively.
MA's Rianne Gardner goes up for a shot as Hermon's Marisa Kelley tries to defend during the second half. MSR photo by Skip Hawkes
King scored a game high 16 points and Davenport had 15 points to lead the Hawks. Also scoring for Hermon was Snow (9), Ross (6), Thayer (6), and Kelley (3). They had three 3-point baskets, two by Ross and one by Snow.
Libbey scored 15 points to pace the Lynx, and Taylor Hawkins added nine points. Other scorers included Rianne Gardner (7), Fortin (7), Brooke Hanscom (4), Paul (3), and Courtney O’Hara (2). They had two 3-points baskets, one each by Gardner and Paul, and they went 9-15 (60%) from the charity stripe.
Maine Sports Report Score Board
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | OT | FINAL |
| Mattanawcook (11-8) | 9 | 4 | 8 | 26 | X | X | 47 |
| Hermon (11-8) | 12 | 13 | 12 | 18 | X | X | 55 |
