SOUTH BERWICK — It took a little while, but eventually the turnovers stopped, the baskets got easier, and the Brunswick girls’ basketball team was off and running once again.
Kelsie Carlton scored 18 points and Dakota Shipley added 16, leading the Dragons to a 52-29 victory over Marshwood in a matchup of teams in the top four in the Class A South Heal point standings. Brunswick improved to 15-1, while Marshwood fell to 12-4.
Brunswick scuffled on offense in the first half but led 21-12 despite having almost as many turnovers (15) as points. But the Dragons took control with a 13-0 run to end the half and rolled to their eighth consecutive win.
“In the second half, I thought we took care of the ball much better,” Brunswick Coach Sam Farrell said. “But it comes down to your players. Kelsie took over, scored four layups to start the third quarter with Lexi (Morin) in the middle. That’s what it’s about, the kids just step up.”
Sarah Theriault scored 10 points and Shelby Anderson had five for the Hawks, who had the Dragons off balance at the start of the game but went through their own struggles on the offensive end.
“We played great defense, and we took away the things that they typically can get,” Marshwood Coach Angie Littlefield said. “I thought we couldn’t have played better; we just had a hard time scoring tonight. It’s not that we weren’t getting looks. … We were having a hard time actually finishing.”
Marshwood went up 12-8 early in the second quarter, but back-to-back 3s by Shipley put the Dragons in front for good.
Carlton opened the second half with a layup on a fast break, a basket down low and then another layup for six quick points that made it 27-12.
“In the second half, we were able to relax and get the looks that we wanted,” Carlton said. “The intensity here, it was like a playoff game. We came in a little overwhelmed, but once we settled down, we did our stuff and it was good.”
While Marshwood was quick to deflect away passes into the paint in the first half, the Dragons found themselves able to pick the defense apart in the second half. Carlton’s second basket to start the second half was a wide-open look, and she found Shipley alone on a cut to the basket to end the third quarter.
“We run the floor with every team we play, and I think it tires them out,” said Carlton, whose team also got six points from Maddy Werner and five from Morin. “We are able to get our looks easier and more available, and we’re just adjusting and seeing what’s open.”
Littlefield said the Hawks’ defense slipped in the second half.
“We just got sloppy,” she said. “We weren’t paying attention to backdoor cuts, and so they were capitalizing on that. … We just fell away from our defensive gameplan a little bit.”
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