AUGUSTA — Waynflete’s girls’ basketball team is known as a 3-point shooting squad.
So what would happen if the Flyers didn’t shoot well?
Well, if Tuesday night’s 69-39 quarterfinal demolition of youthful No. 5 Dirigo is an indication, the Flyers can win in other ways.
In the first half the No. 4 Flyers (17-3) went 0 for 12 from behind the arc. Their inaccuracy was surprising considering they set all-class regional records last year for 3-pointers in a game (12) and regional tourney (27).
“We know that we’re going to have shooting droughts but we know that we can keep on shooting and shoot our way out of it,” senior guard Martha Veroneau said. “Today we really didn’t do that but we’ve been working a lot on defensive and offensive rebounding. I know every time I missed Juliana (Harwood) or Rhiannon (Jackson) were down there putting it in.”
Veroneau did heat up in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 24 points in playing just a touch more than three quarters.
Jackson was a force with 15 points and ended the 3-point drought early in the third quarter. Harwood finished with 11 points and Helen Gray-Bauer added nine off the bench.
“We don’t really care about misses. Our attitude is, you miss a shot, chase it down. Miss another, chase it down again,” Waynflete Coach Brandon Salway said. “I thought Rhiannon and Juliana did a great job on the glass.”
In addition to the rebounding, Waynflete forced Dirigo into 26 turnovers through three quarters. That led to Waynflete taking 63 shots (making 23) through three quarters while Dirigo attempted only 27.
“We talked about how (the pressure defense) was going to be the game-changer and worked on it this whole entire week,” Jackson said.
“The fact, just taking the ball away in general really pumps us up.”
The turnovers helped create significant scoring sprees in each of the first three quarters. Twelve straight points in the first quarter gave the Flyers a 12-2 lead.
The 12-0 run in the second quarter pushed the lead to 32-13.
A 13-0 run in the third quarter started with Veroneau making her only 3-pointer. Right after the 3, Veroneau had two of her 10 steals, leading to a Gray-Bauer hoop and two free throws for herself.
Later in the quarter, Veroneau picked off two passes and went in for two layups in a 6-second span.
“It’s about the run for us,” Salway said. “We may go empty a few trips but sooner or later we’re going to get a couple of steals, a couple of quick hoops, hit a 3 and you’re going to have a good-sized run there. We just have to be patient and know they’ll come.”
Staff Writer Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or at:
scraig@mainetoday.com
Twitter: SteveCCraig
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