TOPSHAM — Morgan Ruff took the opening tip and promptly drained a 3-pointer and the Mt. Ararat girls basketball team was off and running Thursday night against rival Brunswick.
And when it was over, the Eagles earned a hard-fought 56-46 victory in the regular season finale for both squads.
The Eagles improved to 12-6 while the Dragons dropped to 16-2.
Brunswick senior guard Logan Brown led all scorers with 25 points, including her 1,000th career point late in the fourth quarter. Ruff scored a team-high 17 points for the Eagles.
“This is so huge, not only because we’re going into the playoffs and this raises the bar for us to work harder, but also, they’ve been our rivals forever and I can’t remember the last time we beat them, so this is really huge for us,” said Mt. Ararat senior Elsa Daulerio, who scored 16 points.
“We didn’t start playing until the fourth quarter, we let them dictate things until the end,” Brunswick coach Sam Farrell added. “They played well, hitting their shots early. It seemed like they wanted it more than we did.”
The Eagles set the pace early, taking a 5-0 lead out of the gates. They controlled the boards early on and took a 12-5 lead into the second quarter.
“They’re playing well together right now and we needed to continue that (Thursday),” Mt. Ararat coach Julie Petrie said. “We’ve shown glimpses of being a very strong team and they put together a full game (Thursday).”
Brunswick senior Logan Brown drives past Mt. Ararat defender Maddie Kinney during a game Thursday night in Topsham. Eric Maxim/The Times Record
The Dragons pulled within two in the second quarter, but another Ruff 3-pointer — her third of the half — cooled the momentum. The Eagles took a 25-19 lead into halftime. Despite Brown scoring 12 first-half points, the Dragons were unable to get anyone else going.
“Logan Brown is such a great shooter and she’s really good at creating space out on the three so we really focused on defending those screens so we could get a hand on her during those screens,” Daulerio said. “We let her do her thing and we played our game.”
The Eagles opened the second half on a 7-2 run to extend the lead to 32-21.
“I told them defense wins this game. We played a hard man and they just believed after a great practice (Wednesday) and bought in (Thursday), I’m so proud of them,” Petrie said.
Daulerio and Ruff helped the Eagles surge ahead 42-26 in the fourth quarter.
“I’m so happy for the seniors. Those two have battled for us and this means a lot to them, we haven’t beaten them,” Petrie said.
Sophia Morin (nine points) sank a 3-pointer for Brunswick, and after swapping baskets Brown stole a pass and took it down the court for layup to bring the Dragons within 10, 49-39. But it was a little too late as the Eagles kept the pressure on and closed out the visitors.
Mt. Ararat’s Elsa Daulerio looks to put up a shot as Brunswick’s Blake Ausin defends during a game Thursday night in Topsham. Eric Maxim/The Times Record
“They’re a great squad, we play together, no one has a personal agenda, they all look for each other to do well,” said Petrie about her team.
Brown recorded her 1,000th point late in the fourth, and the crowd applauded the milestone during an ensuing timeout.
“It’s amazing, they all got me here. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” said Brown.
“She’s the fifth Brunswick girl to do it,” Farrell added. “She’s a great player. She works hard and has grown a lot. She has started every game in her high school career minus a senior night and a rolled ankle. She’s a special a kid, top student and is unselfish. She doesn’t shoot with the ego ‘I have to score.'” She shoots with an ego ‘I’m open I’ll shoot’ and she finds her teammates if she can. She’s one of our leaders in assists as well.”
The victory gave the Eagles even more confidence as they head into the tournament.
“It’s something (beating Brunswick) we’ve been wanting to accomplish,” Ruff said. “This gives a huge boost of confidence. We’ve had a couple of tough losses this season so this really helps.”
For Brunswick, it’ll use the time before the tournament to work out any kinks.
“We have some stuff to work on so this week off will give us some time to do that,” Brown said.
“We just need to compete all the time and play our game. We let them dictate (Thursday), something we haven’t done all year,” added Farrell.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
