When Windham’s Sadie Nelson has a hot hand, as she did at Bonny Eagle on Thursday the 14th, her Eagles stand a good chance of winning – which is exactly what they did versus the Scots that night. Nelson totaled 18 points, and though Windham’s lead grew and shrank, grew and shrank, they trailed only once and eventually picked up the W, 40-32.
“We needed to take care of the basketball,” said Windham head coach Brody Artes, “or else we were going to lose. We talked about that at length. It was good to see that they went out there and converted on that.”
As any coach will tell you, basketball is a game of runs, and an early-matchup Windham run proved critical as play progressed. Bonny Eagler Natalie Bushey scored the first basket of the first quarter – the Scots’ lone lead of the game – but Nelson soon drained a three and seized the momentum. The Eagles proceeded to hash nine more for 12-2, at which point Bonny Eagle head coach Scott Regan called time-out and gave his girls the red-hot verbal prodding they clearly needed.
Megan McIntosh took her coach’s advice to heart, kickstarting a seven-point run for the Scots with a bucket at the close of the first. Teammate Cassidy Emery then drained a three to start the second, and Mackenzie Emery followed her up with two more.
Still, Windham had momentum of their own, and five by Mya Mannette combined with four by Tara Flanders kept the Eagles ahead; 21-14 at the break.
Artes was happy with his girls’ take-charge ways in the first half.
“We’ve talked a lot in the last three weeks about making sure we come out and play at one level, and making sure our intensity is always at its peak at all times.
“We’ve had games we’ve lost by a close margin where we’ve had some dips in our intensity level, we haven’t scored, we haven’t defended well, and we’ve lost because of that,” Artes said. “They’ve learned that, if you play hard for 32 minutes, good things will happen. And the good start for us had a lot of momentum on our side early on that carried with us.”
Bonny Eagle put together another string of scores to start the third. McIntosh, Cassidy Emery and Mia Ferrante did the honors, pulling the Scots within two at 21-19.
But Windham soared ahead again, 27-21, by the end of the stretch. The two teams hovered a few possessions apart for the remainder of the bout, and the Eagles claimed victory at the end, 40-32.
In addition to Nelson’s 18, Meghan Hoffses tallied 11. On the Scots’ side, Mackenzie Emery and Cassidy Emery each added eight, and McIntosh added seven.
“Sadie, obviously, she had 18, that was big for us,” said Artes of the night’s key contributor. “When she scores in double-digits, it’s always going to give us a chance to win.”
Artes went on to praise other members of his squad. “Tonight was about ball-handling,” he said. “Bonny Eagle has some really good guards, both defensively and offensively. They were going to get after us, defensively; they were going to be aggressive. So we really had to take care of the basketball.
“I give a lot of credit to our guards, Hoffses, Mannette, Flanders and (Ciera) Berthiaume,” Artes said. “They all did a really good job. Even (Katie) Herzig and (Lyndsey) Arsenault, who went in for a couple minutes, they all did a really good job of handling the pressure.
“We also got some key rebounds. Julia (Linevitch) did a good job inside, and obviously Sadie got some rebounds as well.”
Windham improved to 5-6 on the result. The Eagles were scheduled to host Cheverus on Saturday the 16th, but of course the weather didn’t cooperate. The team welcomed Edward Little on Monday the 18th, winning 47-42, and traveled to Portland on Thursday the 21st. The Eagles are currently sixth in AA North.
Bonny Eagle slipped to 4-7. The Scots were likewise slated to play on Saturday, a road game versus Biddeford. The team, sixth in AA South at present, succumbed 54-43 at Scarborough on Monday and host Noble on Friday.
Windhamite Sadie Nelson, who added 18 in her team’s victory over Bonny Eagle, screeches to a halt, loomed over by a Scots defender.
Bonny Eagle’s Sam Averill lofts up a shot; Windham’s Mya Mannette trails by a step on defense.
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