Gorham’s Rachele Burns scored 30 points leading the Rams over Westbrook last Friday night, 58-51. The win was the second in a row for Gorham and second of the season over the Blue Blazes. Things didn’t come easy for the Rams as they trailed early and needed the strong performance from Burns to get the win.
“That feels good,” Burns said. “I haven’t had as many points as freshman year, so it’s nice to get that. But I couldn’t do it without my teammates, they helped me get the ball.”
The Blue Blazes got on the scoreboard five minutes into the game when Erin Murphy was fouled shooting a 3-pointer. She drained all three of her free throws and gave Westbrook an early lead.
Westbrook then added 10 points in less than two minutes to pull out to a 10-2 lead. Burns hit two 3-pointers in a row to pull the Rams within two before the end of the quarter.
“I thought Westbrook came out to win,” said Gorham coach Sherry Coyne. “Our shots weren’t falling at the beginning.”
Westbrook and Gorham traded baskets for the first few minutes of the second quarter. Murphy hit another three for the Blazes and Cynthia Wescott hit a jumper to help Westbrook take a seven-point lead.
Gorham’s Ashley Michaud then hit a free throw to touch off a 10-2 run to end the first half. Kelsey Wilson hit a three and Burns got a jumper to pull the Rams within a point.
After a steal gave Gorham the ball again, Wilson hit a lay-up to put her team up by one. Wescott hit a shot at the other end to put Westbrook back in front. With time running out, the Rams gave the ball to Burns and she drove in the paint and hit a lay-up with one second left to give Gorham a 24-23 halftime lead.
“We pulled it together,” said Coyne. “Defensively, we had to take it to them; early on we weren’t. We were playing a half-court game and you can’t do that against this team.”
Gorham went on an 11-0 run early in the third quarter that was punctuated by a pair of 3-pointers from Burns and Chantal Tijssen. The Rams led 42-28 before the Blazes came to life at the end of the third with eight straight points.
“The league is tough,” said Westbrook coach Mike Murphy. “We are pleased with our progress but these games are no gimmies. It’s a tough league. You’ve got to come and play all 32 minutes. When we do that, we are extra tough.”
Burns’ 30 points led all scorers. Wilson finished with 15 points for Gorham. Erin Murphy had 22 to lead Westbrook and Wescott had 14.
“(Burns) just took control,” said Coyne. “She got some nice looks offensively and she stuck them. That’s what we needed. She also took some nice drives to the basket. She kept changing it up and kept them on their toes. We were shooting from the outside and bringing it to the inside; she did a good job controlling that.”
Rams rout Windham
On Tuesday night, the Rams hosted Windham and cruised to a 64-32 win. Rachele Burns had 17 points and Kelsey Wilson added 14 as Gorham improved to 14-3.
The Rams got a great start when they ripped off 23 first quarter points. They held the Eagles to just five in the opening frame and continued their dominance for the remainder of the game.
Gorham will finish up their regular season schedule this Friday when they host Cheverus.
Blazes beat Bonny Eagle
Westbrook’s Kaylene Godwin scored 13 of her 17 points in the second half to lead Westbrook over Bonny Eagle, 56-48, on Tuesday night in Standish. Godwin had seven points in a back-and-forth third quarter and she scored six more to help the Blue Blazes pull away in the fourth.
The win was an important one for the Blazes as they hope to host a preliminary round playoff game when the tournament kicks off next week. Entering the game they were eighth in the West A Heal Points race. Their record now stands at 9-9.
“They’re a tough team, they don’t quit,” said Murphy. “I’ve got to give credit to our kids too. They hung in there in a game Bonny Eagle needed. We needed it too, we hope to host a prelim game. I take my hat of to both teams they played hard. It’s the 18th game and they played hard with a lot on the line.”
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