enlarge John Ewing/Staff Photographer

Diana Manduca has sparked the Deering girls to the Class A state final as a leader on a team that stresses teamwork. The next step, East champion Oxford Hills on Saturday.

CLASS A BOYS
WHO: Bangor (20-0) vs. Cheverus (18-3)
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Cumberland County Civic Center

CLASS A GIRLS
WHO: Oxford Hills (15-6) vs. Deering (19-2)
WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Cumberland County Civic Center

CLASS B BOYS
WHO: Cape Elizabeth (19-2) vs. Maranacook (21-0)
WHEN: 9 p.m. today
WHERE: Bangor Auditorium

CLASS B GIRLS
WHO: Lake Region (19-2) vs. Waterville (21-0)
WHEN: 7 p.m. today
WHERE: Bangor Auditorium

When you look at the way the girls' basketball team at Deering High plays, one word comes to mind: tough.

The Western Class A champion Rams are in your face all the time, on defense and on offense, harassing you into making hasty decisions, pushing the ball at you before you can react defensively.

And if there's one player on Deering that personifies the team, it's junior guard Diana Manduca.

Her statistics are not mind-boggling. She averaged only 8.1 points a game in the regular season, along with 2.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals. But then again, no one on Deering has huge numbers. Nicole Garland leads the team with 10.7 points per game.

But if you watch the 5-foot-6 Manduca closely, you'll learn everything you need to know about how the Rams play. She can score inside or outside -- she hit 19 3-pointers in the regular season, second most on the team -- and she plays a suffocating defense.

She is the type of player Mike D'Andrea loves to coach.

"She just works at her game," he said. "She's very dedicated. And she brings a level of toughness to this game that not a lot of girls can match."

And that says a lot, considering that Deering pushes itself like few opponents can. Daily practices are a battle.

"We are so competitive as a team," said Garland. "It's hard to earn a spot on this team. You have to work hard every day."

"This is a team where we don't lose anything when we go to the bench," said sophomore center Claire Ramonas. "We all have our roles. Everyone supports each other."

That's why teammates were so happy for senior Porscha Lewis, the backup point guard, after she scored a team-high 17 points in Deering's quarterfinal win over Massabesic.

"We have a lot of bench players who could start somewhere else," said Manduca.

Or could be a star. The Rams haven't had a 20-point scorer since Megan Urban, now a senior at Assumption College, graduated.

"Diana absolutely gets overlooked in the fact that we play team basketball," said D'Andrea. "The system that we put in place here doesn't involve one player getting every touch. It asks players to play good basketball -- ball reversal, dribble drive and kick. Our one philosophy on offense is to work together to get one good shot and our one philosophy on defense is to contest one shot.

"The girls know that's the way that Deering girls play basketball."

Manduca has been starting since her freshman season, when she arrived at Deering from Lyman Moore Middle School -- the only one of Deering's starters not from Lincoln Middle School. Her older sister, Maria, had gone to Deering and was part of the Class A state championship team in 2004.

"She shows me her ring all the time," said Diana Manduca.

Maria Manduca also taught her younger sister what to expect at Deering. The two would play at home and "she would push me around," said Diana. "She taught me what it was all about." Right now it's all about winning.

The Rams (19-2) have won 13 consecutive games and will play Oxford Hills (15-6) in the Class A state championship game at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Manduca was awarded the Edward "Red" McMann Award as the regional tournament's outstanding player. She had 15 points in the title game, including an 8-point spree late in the first quarter that propelled Deering into the lead for good.

Overall, she averaged 12.6 points a game, four more than the regular season.

"Diana really stepped up in the playoffs," said Garland, a deadly 3-point shooter as well. "That's the thing about our team. I know if I'm not shooting well, she can step it up. It gives us a big advantage."

That balance makes it easy on point guard Jessica Ruhlin.

"A lot of times both of them are on," she said. "But there are a lot of players on this team...