WESTBROOK – After getting a nice 44-32 road win over Kennebunk to open the season last week, the Westbrook girls basketball team (1-1) went into their home opener against Scarborough on Tuesday with high hopes.

But things didn’t work out as well with the Red Storm, as Scarborough (2-0) broke open a tight game with a 24-3 second-quarter scoring barrage to cruise to a 57-39 victory.

Westbrook’s Paige Baldwin led all scorers with 11 points, with eight of those coming in the first quarter, but Scarborough won behind a balanced attack that saw four players score 10 points each. Brittany Bona, Mary Redmond, Carly Rogers and Ashley Briggs all hit double figures for the Red Storm, with Briggs hitting for seven free throws in the second quarter. Westbrook’s Marissa Martel chipped in with nine points and Meaghan Niehoff scored seven points for the Blazes.

After the game, Westbrook coach Chris Aube said that he expected a tough game from the Storm.

“I knew what Scarborough was going to bring to the table,” Aube said. “I didn’t think we did a very good job of handling their pressure early in the game and that really caused them to jump out (to a lead). I think once we got into the half court, we played even with them and we made poor decisions with the basketball, which was disappointing. We just have to get better.”

The Blazes were hurt by a couple of extended scoring droughts in the first half. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead on a putback by Baldwin just 1:21 into the game, Scarborough ran off nine straight points until Niehoff hit a jumper to make it 9-4 with 3:28 left to go in the first. Baldwin and Martel then got a couple of big hoops to cut the Storm lead to 9-8 with less than two minutes to go in the quarter, and Martel was driving to the hoop with a chance to put the Blazes back on top when Bona came from behind and made a resounding block to preserve the Scarborough lead.

The score was 13-12 in favor of the Storm as the second quarter started, but that’s as close as it got. The Storm came out of the huddle firing on all cylinders and went on a 9-0 scoring run to break the game open. It took Westbrook almost five minutes to score in the quarter and the Blazes only managed a Kayla Winton (four points) field goal and a free throw from Jess Harris (five points), and as the teams left the floor for the halftime break, the Blazes trailed 37-15.

While the score was lopsided going into the third quarter, the Blazes came out and shook off the memory of the first half and started taking the game to the Red Storm. The team stepped up its play and it started to pay off with foul calls against Scarborough. In fact, at one point late in the quarter, Scarborough had been called for 10 fouls while the Blazes hadn’t been tagged with any.

“Our emphasis at halftime was ‘we have got to be stronger’,” Aube said. “They were letting us play in the first half and we need to be adjust to that and be stronger with the basketball. I thought we were a little more aggressive and that’s why we started to get some of those calls because we were attacking them instead of playing passively.”

But even with the improved play, the Blazes weren’t able to cut into the lead as both teams scored nine points in the quarter. Westbrook did manage to do a little damage in the fourth, outscoring the Storm, 15-9, but it wasn’t enough and Scarborough held on for the win.

Aube said that he sees room for improvement in his squad, but added that it is only the second game of the season and there is time for the Blazes to get back on track. “We need to get better with ball security,” he said. “I think we need to take care of the basketball and play a little more composed in the half court on the offensive end. Defensively, I think we did a decent job, I think a lot of their points were off turnovers. If we can get better in the half court offensively, we can make some improvements.”

The Blazes will face another tough test on Friday night as they have to travel to South Portland to take on the Red Riots in a 7 p.m. game. Following that contest, Westbrook will return home on Dec. 20 to face Cheverus at 7 p.m. and then will host Biddeford on Dec. 23 in a 7 p.m. game.

With Scarborough’s Mary Redmond right on top of her, Westbrook’s
Jess Harris looks for an opening during the first half on Tuesday
night. (Staff photo by Mike Higgins)