Mission Accomplished – Ellsworth Girls Basketball Makes History Bringing Home Gold Ball [STATS/PHOTOS/VIDEO]

The Ellsworth Girls Basketball Team made history on Tuesday, March 7th beating Spruce Mountain 57-56 for their 1st Gold Ball in school history. I had the privilege of riding down and back with the team and cheerleaders, and let me share the day with you.

I had heard that the girls were being surprised on Monday afternoon with the word that they would be traveling to Portland on a motorcoach rather than a yellow school bus. Even I wasn't expecting a luxury Mercedes-Benz motorcoach pulling into Holden to pick me up at 11:20 a.m.

The bus was festivally decorated for our journey to Portland!

We made it down there in record time, and the cheerleaders went to the Maine Mall! I mean they're the State Champs and a little shopping never hurt anyone, besides their bank accounts!

Meanwhile the Team had an opportunity to shoot around at the Portland Expo!

Of course there was the obligatory team photo.

While we were waiting for the Eagles to take the court, the Maine Celtics were practicing!

Finally it was the Girl's turn to take the Expo floor. They were loose and ready after their hour shoot-around.

They then went to dinner at Amato's, and then it was game-time.

The first Half couldn't have been scripted any better for the Eagles. They jumped out to a 9-0 lead, and led 19-6 at the end of the 1st Quarter, as Abby Radel scored 11 points for the Eagles. Ellsworth was up 32-15 at the end of the 1st Half, outscoring the Phoenix 13-9 in the 2nd Quarter.

After a quick run, Ellsworth led by as many as 21, but Spruce Mountain started to find the basket, and outscored Ellsworth in the 3rd Quarter 18-16, to cut Ellsworth's lead to 15, 48-33.

The Phoenix didn't stop. Led by Olivia Mastine with 9 points in the 4th and Jaydn Pingree with 9 points, including going 7-8 from the free throw line, Spruce Mountain took the lead 55-54 with 1:48 left in the 4th Quarter.

But the Eagles were a team of destiny. Addison Atherton drained a runner from the foul line with 1:06 left, and Megan Jordan sank a free throw with 39 seconds left to give Ellsworth a 57-56 lead.

The Phoenix had an opportunity to tie or win the game but were not able to get the shot off and the Eagles won their 1st ever gold ball!

And that set off bedlam!

There was the cutting down of the nets, and the photos of the team and the presentation of the Gold Ball, which was almost as tall as Abby Radel!

Here's the video of the gold ball presentation and the awarding of the championship medals!

While the Girls were TV stars, it was a chance for Coach Pooler to take a deep breath! He'd come along way winning the Gold Ball after his 1st year's team went 3-13!

And it was especially significant for Trinity Montigny to be there! Now a junior at Husson University, she's Ellsworth's last girl 1000 point scorer and she played with senior Morgan Clifford. The sophomores and freshman watched Trinity's games and wanted to be like her! And now they have inspired the next generation!

Ellsworth residents can be excused if they thought there was a 12-alarm fire at around 11:30 but it was just the motorcade welcoming the State Champions home!

Here are the stats from the game

Line Score

Box Score

Ellsworth

Spruce Mountain

Check out more photos from the game