Sam Farrell’s Brunswick High School girls basketball team had a gameplan. The Dragons passed, and passed, and passed some more, looking for the open shot.

Problem was, on a night where the Brunswick shots just didn’t fall and the Mt. Ararat rebounders were all over the boards, the result was a 44-27 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory for the Eagles.

Mt. Ararat improved to 4-1 with its third consecutive victory, while the Dragons continued their up and down season (lose one, win one) and fell to 2-3. Brunswick is slated to host Bangor on Tuesday (6:30 p.m.), while Mt. Ararat faces a tough test on Dec. 30 at 5-0 Cony, with the tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

Mt. Ararat was downright dominating on the boards, holding a 38-18 advantage, led by 13 caroms by Molly Estes and 10 from Caitlin LaFountain.

“ We played really good defense tonight and controlled the boards well, which is always big for us,” said Mt. Ararat coach Kelly LaFountain. “ Molly came off the bench and immediately began doing the little things like getting to offensive rebounds (nine) and hustling for steals (five).”

“It’s hard to take anything away from this game tonight because we didn’t rebound and didn’t play for 32 minutes,” said Farrell, whose team shot 18 percent (nine of 49) from the field and committed 22 turnovers. “We need to start playing for 32 minutes consistently.”

Back and forth

Mt. Ararat led after a closely played first quarter, 12-8. Julia Champagne and Lauren Carlton each hit a 3-pointer for Brunswick, while Chelsea Crawford and Mallory Nelson scored four points apiece for the Eagles. Mt. Ararat held a 9-3 edge on the boards in the first eight minutes, a sign of things to come.

The Eagles took control in the second quarter, reeling off six straight points for an 18-8 lead with 4:27 left in the half.

Brunswick battled back, holding the Eagles to two points the rest of the way and receiving one bucket each from Becky Champagne, Mel Bryant and Libby Arford to close to 20- 14 at the break. Nelson led Mt. Ararat with 10 first-half points, while Becky Champagne paced the Dragons with four points.

A trey by Carlton brought Brunswick to within five points early in the third quarter (22-17). Kristi Willey’s runner and a pair of free throws by Nelson extended the Mt. Ararat lead to 26-17, with the Eagles holding a 28-19 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Estes found the offense to go along with her pounding of the boards in the fourth quarter, scoring all eight of her points as the Eagles pulled away by outscoring Brunswick 16-8 in the final frame for the 44-27 victory.

“ We wanted this win so bad,” said Estes. “When we are asked to come into the game from the bench, we always give it 100 percent effort. We talk a lot about our defensive play, and it continues to get better every time out.”

“ We knew the way Brunswick was playing that we had to relax on defense and not get too aggressive when they swung the ball,” said Nelson, who led all scorers with 15 points. “We have been working hard on things in practice, and we are seeing results in the games. It is great to head into the holiday break 4-1.”

Coach LaFountain praised the work of Nelson, which included five rebounds and three assists. “Mallory is the kind of player who sneaks up on you and ends up getting 12 to 15 points in a game. She scored some big baskets tonight.”

Crawford and Willey chipped in six points each, with Leah Hitchcock adding five points for the Eagles. Crawford picked up three steals. Mt. Ararat shot 32 percent (18 of 55) and made eight of 15 free throws.

Julia Champagne finished with a team-leading seven points for Brunswick, which was five of eight from the charity stripe. Carlton added six points, Bryant five and Becky Champagne four. Liz Faulkner had seven steals, five rebounds and two assists, with Becky Champagne chipping in four assists and three steals.

Mt. Ararat 44, Brunswick 27

At Mt. Ararat High School
Brunswick— 865 8—27
Mt.Ararat—128816—44
Brunswick — Julia Champagne 3-0-7,
Lauren Carlton 2-0-6, Liz Faulkner 0-0-0,
Lyse Henshaw 1-0-3, Becky Champagne
1-2-4, Mel Bryant 1-3-5, Libby Arford 1-
0-2, Anna Dimick 0-0-0. Totals — 9-5-27.
Mt. Ararat — Chelsea Crawford 2-2-6,
Caitlin LaFountain 2-0-4, Kristi Willey 3-0-
6, Leah Hitchcock 2-1-5, Mallory Nelson
6- 3- 15, Molly Estes 3- 2- 8, Micaela
Mitchell 0-0-0, Lindsey Cornelison 0-0-0,
Brigitte Milliken 0-0-0. Totals — 18-8-44.
3-pointers — (B) Julia Champagne, Carlton 2, Henshaw.
Records — Mt. Ararat 4-1, Brunswick 2-
3.
Next — The Eagles visit Cony on Dec. 30
at 7 p.m., while the Dragons host Bangor
on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.