OLD ORCHARD BEACH — When shots weren’t falling for Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday, the Seagulls turned to the defensive end, and they turned to junior forward Abby Dubois. Dubois scored a career-high 31 points ”“ including 14 of OOB’s 20 points across the second and third quarters ”“ to lead the Seagulls past Traip, 56-42, in a Western Maine Conference girls basketball game at Old Orchard Beach High School.
The Seagulls (10-5) led 7-5 early in the game, including a 3-pointer by Haley Plante. But the Rangers (4-10) went on an 8-1 run to take a 13-8 lead. Dubois pulled OOB back to within 13-12 at the end of the first quarter with two layups in the final minute.
Dubois continued her own personal scoring run to start the second quarter, as she made one of two free throws to tie the game at 13-13. Two more free throws by Dubois gave OOB the lead back, as Dubois was rewarded at the charity stripe for her active work on the defensive end.
“Abby’s middle name is energy; that’s how she plays,” said OOB head coach Dean Plante. “She’s extremely athletic, probably one of the fastest kids in the state with the ball in her hand. And we feed off of that.”
“Having a team on your back like that is really a big deal,” said Dubois. “I didn’t really think much of it; it’s just playing my heart out, just giving it all I could do.”
The free throw line was the only place from which the Seagulls could generate any offense for much of the quarter, thanks to Traip getting into foul trouble. But Dubois made a layup with 2:35 left for OOB’s first field goal of the quarter, then made three more before halftime as the Seagulls finished on a 9-0 run.
“Sometimes we have those nights where shots just don’t fall, and you’ve got to improvise, and (get) boards, and driving and everything else to substitute for shots that don’t fall,” said Dubois. “So I think that’s what we did.”
Dubois made a basket early in the third, but it ended up being the lone field goal of the quarter for the Seagulls. The Rangers opened the half on a 9-2 run that lasted the first 6:17 of the frame, but that point of the game also proved to be where the game went away from Traip. Senior forward Alli Barrett, who scored a team-high 14 points ”“ including six in the third ”“ went down with a leg injury with 1:47 left in the quarter and didn’t return.
“I felt kind of comfortable, even though it was close,” said Plante. “Obviously Alli going down late in the third hurt them.”
Lauralee Small converted three of four free throws late for OOB to give the Seagulls some breathing room heading into the fourth quarter, up 32-28.
OOB started the fourth on the right foot, as Mackenzie Rague got behind the Traip defense on the initial inbounds pass for an easy layup ”“ which marked the first non-Dubois field goal for the Seagulls since the first quarter.
That jump-started an OOB offense that had been dormant all game, as the Seagulls converted nine field goals in the fourth after hitting just 10 in the first three quarters combined.
“We made some nice passes, found some people open,” said Plante, “and obviously, Abby was finishing for us, which was nice.”
Kelsey Custeau hit a 3-pointer two minutes in to extend the lead to 39-32, and give OOB its first make from beyond the arc since Plante’s make in the opening minutes.
Custeau went coast-to-coast a minute a later for a layup after collecting a steal on the defensive end, and Dubois made a layup on the next possession to make it an 11-point game.
“The last two games, Waynflete as well, we had a lead and then they closed it,” said Plante. “But we finished. And I’d like to think good teams do that.”
The Seagulls then made their free throws down the stretch to finish off a Traip team that gave them all sorts of fits.
“I think we just really wanted to win this game, because it’s one of our last really intense games that we have. We knew it was going to be a battle tonight because Traip has always been one of our rivalries,” said Dubois. “I think that we just came out with intensity and the want to win, and just the energy led us to win in the end.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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