Cassidy Dumont helps Oxford Hills sidesteps Lewiston in nail-biter
Mar. 9—LEWISTON — Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier knew the Vikings were in good hands with senior guard Cassidy Dumont at the free-throw line with 4.1 seconds left in the game.
Dumont was fouled and delivered two perfect foul shots that barely touched the cords to lock up the Vikings' 45-41 hard-fought win over Lewiston on Monday evening.
Dumont said she wasn't nervous, knowing those two shots would seal Lewiston's fate.
"Not necessarily, because I had to take big shots like that before, but obviously you still want to be able to make them for your team," she said. "They (shots) all felt good. I can tell right away, and you probably would have seen or heard a reaction if they weren't going in. I am happy with it."
Pelletier was relieved that Dumont was at the foul line.
"When you can put the ball in Cassidy Dumont's hands — she has hit a lot big shots in her career, some in state championship games — so I wasn't worried at all," Pelletier said. "I knew those (foul) shots were going in."
The Vikings were holding on to a 43-35 victory until senior guard Emily Strachan and freshman guard Ellie Legare each landed a 3-pointer to inspire the Blue Devils and make it a 43-41 with 1:40 left in the game.
"It was 43-41 and we had the ball with a chance, and we signed it over," Lewiston coach Craig Jipson said. "We had too many turnovers in the first quarter that were silly. We missed too many layups in the second half."
All of a sudden, the Vikings were fighting for survival, but a key steal gave them the ball back with 32 seconds left, forcing the Devils to foul. That's when Dumont stepped up to the free-throw line and gave the Vikings some breathing room.
'We knew it was going to be a battle," Pelletier said. "Jipson-coached teams are always going to battle — offensively and defensively. We got a 10-point lead, I want to say with three minutes to go, and they just hit some big shots. We didn't defend very well at the 3-point line at that point."
The Vikings led 19-12 at halftime and 34-28 after three quarters. The pulled off the road win without a double-digit scorer. Dumont and Molly Corbett (three 3-pointers) each scored nine points and Brooklyn Alexander helped out with eight.
For the Blue Devils, Strachan was the game's leading scorer with 16 points, six of which came from two 3-pointers. Natalie Beaudoin had eight points.
"I give my kids credit because when Oxford Hills got up by nine, we didn't fold our tents," Jipson said. "Oxford Hills outworked us, but when it got to be crunch time, we picked it up a little bit. We made some big shots to cut it to two. We just have to score on that last possession. That's twice this year that we lost to (the Vikings) by three and four. To get a program over the hump, you have to win those games."
