WESTBROOK — Falmouth held Westbrook to one field goal and five points in the first quarter Tuesday night.
Then the visiting Yachtsmen topped that, limiting the Blue Blazes to three points (all from the foul line) in the second quarter of their 43-27 Class A South girls’ basketball win.
Falmouth (4-2) employed its press a little more in the second quarter, forcing 10 turnovers.
Falmouth’s 10-5 first quarter lead was expanded to 14 points (22-8) at the half. Falmouth scored seven of the final eight points in the last three minutes – six by Grace Soucy.
Soucy, who scored a game-high 12 points to go along with five steals, explained that the decisive second quarter was a result of communication.
“We came out faster in the second quarter. Something clicked on offense,” she said. “We started talking and making it intense for them, and it showed in our defense.”
Westbrook Coach Todd Day admitted his offense struggled. He said there was too much standing around with Mikayla Van Zandt, one of his top offensive threats, beset with her second foul early in the first quarter.
He added that shooting 1 for 19 from the field in the first 16 minutes didn’t help either.
“We couldn’t get anything going offensively,” he said. “Actually the turnovers killed us. We didn’t even get looks at the hoop in (the second) quarter because their defense was so aggressive.”
Falmouth Coach Dawn Armandi said her team is hungry to improve its win total from a year ago. With Tuesday’s win, its first on the road this season, the Yachtsmen are one way from that feat.
“Every game we are getting better, whether we win or lose,” Armandi said. “For this team, it has all of the potential in the world.”
Westbrook (2-5) stayed with Falmouth for the first five minutes of the third quarter. But, following Avery Tucker’s 10-foot jumper to make the score 26-14, Falmouth’s Grace Dimick, Alaina Birkel and Abby Ryan hit shots in a 60-second span to push the Yachtsmen’s lead to 33-14 with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
Falmouth entered the final quarter with a 35-16 lead.
“We’re a fast team,” Soucy said. “We know we can run teams off the floor. Coach stresses how the third quarter is the most important and we really executed.”
Van Zandt finished with seven points and six rebounds after finishing with one rebound and zero points in the first half.
“Our offense runs much better when she’s in the game,” Day said. “Without her in the game it limited what we could do offensively.
“She helps control things for us and settles things down.
“Again, our offense revolves around getting her the ball and her going to the basket because it opens the court for us.”
Ryan added eight points and five rebounds and Adelaide Cooke finished with nine points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Falmouth.
For Westbrook, Tucker chipped in with a team-high eight points and four steals.
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