WESTBROOK – It’s been an up and down season for the Westbrook girls basketball team.
The Blue Blazes have had some nice highs, including a big win over a strong Marshwood squad and a solid victory over Bonny Eagle earlier this month. But the lows have been equally low, case in point being a flat performance against Sanford on Jan. 13 that led to a 46-29 loss.
But the Blazes regrouped from the loss to the Redskins and got their season back on the right track on Monday as they got a 36-31 win over Gorham.
After the Sanford loss on Friday, Westbrook coach Chris Aube gave the Blazes Saturday off and had them back on the floor to practice on Sunday. Aube said the team had a good practice and that led to a win against the Rams.
“I like how we responded,” Aube said. “This is uncharted territory for a lot of these kids, it’s been four years since we’ve been to the tournament.”
“I think this group isn’t used to having a ton of success,” Aube continued. “We beat Marshwood and played really well against Bonny Eagle and now all of a sudden, how do we handle that? We’re not sneaking up on anybody, when teams play Westbrook, they know they are going to have to be prepared so people are paying attention to us. If we don’t execute and play with intensity, we’re extremely beatable.”
Right now, it looks like the Blazes have the intensity that will help them break their streak of four seasons without a playoff berth. As of Wednesday morning, the Blue Blazes (6-4) sit in eighth place in the latest Class A Heal Point standings, with the top 11 teams making the postseason. The Rams (5-6) are also in playoff position in 11th place, but their position isn’t as solid as Massabesic is right on their heels.
On Monday, the game started off as a defensive struggle. In fact, the two teams went into the halftime break with Gorham in front by a score of 9-8.
“We really played a good defensive game, holding (Gorham’s Kristin) Ross to seven points (during the entire game),” Aube said. “She’s leading the league in scoring. Their best top two scorers, we held them to a combined 11 points.”
In fact, Ross only managed six points in the first half, which was a big key to the Blazes’ success. Westbrook’s Paige Baldwin, who led all scorers with 12 points in the contest, was also limited in the first half, as she managed only four points.
If the first half was a tight defensive struggle, the third quarter was the polar opposite. Westbrook exploded for 20 points in the quarter, while limiting Gorham to just nine to grab a 28-18 lead at the end of three.
Emily Blackmore was the spark that kicked the Blazes’ offense into high gear in the third. She came out of the gate and drained a 3 and then stole the ball and hit a layup to put Westbrook on top and start the Blazes’ run.
The result was a much better one than the one Westbrook had against Sanford last week.
Katelyn King had a big game for Sanford, knocking down 12 points, including two big third quarter 3-pointers that helped the Redskins seal the win. Sam Adams contributed 11 points in the win and Taylor Littlefield chipped in with eight points for the Redskins.
For Westbrook, Baldwin had a big game, leading the Blue Blazes with 11 points. Blazes’ point guard Jess Harris added five points.
Sanford came out of the gate quickly in this contest, as the Redskins jumped out to a 13-3 lead after one.
Things changed in the second as the Blue Blazes shook off the bad first eight minutes and began to play themselves back into the ballgame. Baldwin, who once again provided a strong presence in the paint for Westbrook, hauled down an offensive board and hit the put back to make the Redskin lead 13-5.
The two teams traded baskets, and with the score now 15-5, the Blazes got on a roll. With 3:45 to go before halftime, Kayla Winton drove the baseline and hit to cut the lead to 15-7. Westbrook then got a steal and worked the ball around to Harris who hit a 3 from the top of the key to make it 15-10. Ashlee Richards hit a free throw and Megan Niehoff hit a layup off a steal, and with 1:20 left, the Blazes had cut the Redskin lead to 15-13. A Sanford 3 just before the break gave the Redskins a bit of breathing room as the two teams left the floor at the half with the Redskins on top 20-15.
Coming out for the third quarter, the Redskins went on a 15-9 third-quarter run, keyed by two big 3s from King to turn a two-point halftime lead to a 35-24 Redskin advantage going into the fourth.
The Redskins didn’t let up in the final eight minutes, hustling to every rebound and taking advantage of their second chances to put the game away, running the lead to 20 points at times before the Blazes settled down and got a few late hoops to make the final score 46-29.
Paige Baldwin had a big game for Westbrook in a 36-31 win over
Gorham on Monday, leading all scorers with 12 points. (Staff photo
by Mike Higgins)
Kayla Winton of Westbrook is surrounded by Sanford Redskins as
she goes for a rebound on Friday. (Staff photo by Mike Higgins)
Westbrook’s Jess Harris pays the price for driving to the hoop
as she gets sandwiched by two Sanford defenders on Jan. 13. (Staff
photo by Mike Higgins)
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