Winslow girls have put together another outstanding season

Winslow High School’s girls basketball team has put together an impressive 33-6 record over the past two seasons, including a 17-2 mark so far this year.

The Black Raiders, the fifth seed in the Class B North tournament, will be taking on No. 4 Hermon (14-4) in Saturday’s 1:35 p.m. quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Defense has been one of the staples of their success as Winslow has held its opponents to 40 points or less 16 times in 19 games.

Winslow beat Mount View of Thorndike 47-14 in a preliminary round game earlier this week.

“We take pride in our defense,”said head coach Lindsey Withee. “We work real hard at it….defense and rebounding.”

She said her team is “very scrappy. The girls give 100 percent for all 32 minutes.”

The Black Raiders reached the semifinals a year ago after earning a first-round bye and beating Ellsworth 51-44 in the quarterfinals. Eventual state champ Houlton ousted them 49-38 in the semifinals.

If Winslow beats Hermon and top seed Houlton (17-1) bests No. 8 Mount Desert Island (12-7),  Winslow and Houlton would meet again in the semis.

“Nobody is undefeated. Everybody is beatable. It’s a matter of who executes better and who takes care of the basketball,” said Withee, who anticipates a highly competitive tournament.

Withee said her Raiders played Hermon during the preseason and called it a “great scrimmage.”

Withee said her team possesses “great senior leadership” in 5-foot-6 forward Heather Kervin and 5-7 guard Ciara LeClair. Kervin had 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals against Mount View and LeClair had nine points.

Kervin is a career 1,000-point scorer and is averaging a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds per game.

LeClair has been on a nice scoring run herself of late.

“She has really stepped up the last eight games,” said Withee.

Junior Sarah Guimond and sophomore Weslee Littlefield are the assists leaders as they share the point guard duties. They take turns starting.

Sophomore guard Paige Trask (5-9) and 5-8 junior forward Haley Ward, who transferred from Augusta’s Cony High School, are the other starters and 5-4 junior guard Madison Roy has given them a lift after returning from knee and ankle injuries.

“She’s getting a lot better every day,” said Withee.

Withee added that another positive attribute for her team is their basketball IQ.

“The girls make good decisions,” said Withee.