As time wound down Tuesday evening at Keegan Gymnasium, the Cheverus student section chanted in the direction of senior standout Maddie Fitzpatrick.
“MVP!” MVP!”
And those students weren’t wrong.
The University of Maine-bound Fitzpatrick, widely considered the state’s finest girls’ basketball player, scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and added seven steals as the host Stags pulled away to beat Thornton Academy, 53-40, in a compelling early-season showdown.
“(Maddie’s) just amazing,” said Cheverus Coach Billy Goodman. “She does everything. It’s rebounding, it’s passing, it’s stealing the ball. She just didn’t force it tonight.”
After the Golden Trojans drew even at 31-31 midway through the third quarter, a Fitzpatrick 3-pointer sparked a 13-1 run as the Stags pulled away and improve to 3-0 on the young season.
The game matched two preseason favorites in Class AA. The Trojans (3-1) had averaged 90 points in their previous two wins but were shut down by a tenacious Cheverus defense.
“I was extra pumped for this game,” said Fitzpatrick. “There was a buzz in the school today. It was very encouraging.”
Both teams struggled early, and it took three minutes before a Fitzpatrick layup opened the scoring.
Thornton Academy, behind five points from Addisen Sulikowski and a layup off an inbounds feed from senior Emma Lizotte, the former Cheverus standout playing her first game back in her old gym, took a 10-5 lead after one quarter.
When Sulikowski drove and banked home a shot early in the second quarter, the lead was seven, but Cheverus roared back, embarking on an 18-5 run.
A 3-point shot from freshman Abby Kelly put the home team back in front. Anna Goodman added a free throw and Ruth Boles drained a 3 for the Stags’ biggest lead, and after the Golden Trojans drew back within one, a Goodman corner 3 with 21 seconds left made it 26-22 at the break.
After a Lizotte pullup jumper pulled Thornton even for the final time, Cheverus answered with two Kelly foul shots, a long 3 from Fitzpatrick and a Boles jumper. Olivia Sirois got a point back at the free-throw line for Thornton, but Addison Jordan sandwiched a pair of short jumpers around a Boles putback for a 44-32 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
“I think the crowd and the student section really stepped it up and gave us a lot of energy,” said Boles, who scored 13 points. “Our bench gave us energy, too, and helped us play really well.”
A pair of Lizotte free throws cut the deficit to nine with 5:56 remaining, but Boles scored on a putback. Fitzpatrick then made a layup after a steal, added a free throw, and pulled up and drained a jumper to end all doubt.
“I think we’re underrated,” said Fitzpatrick. “We’re just together and focused on ourselves. We tune out the noise.”
The Golden Trojans got 15 points from Sulikowski, 10 from Kylie Lamson and nine from Lizotte, who also had a game-high 14 rebounds. They were doomed in part by 19 turnovers.
“If we don’t break the press and we get in foul trouble, we lose, and that’s what happened tonight,” said Suzanne Rondeau, Thornton Academy’s first-year coach. “It’s early in the season. I’d rather make the mistakes now and learn from them.”
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