NORTH BERWICK — Cupcakes appeared from somewhere following the 46-28 win by the Sanford girls basketball team over fellow SMAA foe Noble Tuesday at Barry Moore Gym.
Such were the spoils of victory.
And sophomore guard Grace Riley more than earned her frosted goodie by firing in a career-high 12 points to fuel the Redskins (5-2) cause.
But first she had to answer questions about her clutch performance, one which came with two starters missing and Sanford shooters in the doldrums.
“Everyone stepped up,” said Riley, “and it worked out well.”
Riley did some stepping of her own, emerging from the bench after what played out as a sluggish first period by both teams and hit on a trio of 3-point attempts.
“We needed some young players to step up,” said Sanford coach Kristy Parent.
Her hot hand was instrumental in the Redskins’ 11-2 closing kick to the second quarter, giving them an 18-10 halftime lead.
“When you get the open shot,” said Riley, “you just have to be confident. And I’ve gained a little bit of confidence over the time. When you get the open shot, you just have to take a chance. And it just worked out.”
The first of those answered a trey from Noble’s (1-7) Chandler Waterman and put Sanford up 7-6.
Then, after Amber Kelly put the Knights up again briefly with a layup, Riley popped in two more from long range to put the Redskins up again, 13-8.
They were never headed again.
“She’s a shooter,” said Parent. “So if a team is sitting in a 2-3 zone, that’s her opportunity to shine.
“Hopefully after tonight, she’ll be confident in her shot and in her ability to do that.”
Riley’s teammates followed her lead and began seeing their shots drop, too.
Sam Adams, who shared the team lead with Riley, hit for three of her 12 points with 1:59 to play in the half.
Sanford rode the surge into the second half, when another 3-pointer by Adams lit the fuse on a 13-2 third quarter run.
“We’re a defensive oriented team,” said Parent. “That’s what I explained to them at halftime. But we still have to be making lay ups, and rebounding the ball well.”
They did it well enough to take a 31-18 lead into the final quarter, and were never seriously threatened after that.
“I thought we played really well,” said Riley, who was moments away from that first, well-deserved bite of cupcake, “and that we rotated the ball nicely, so we could get some open shots. We just played as a team.”
Sanford will take to the court again, Thursday, when Cheverus will visit Memorial Gym.
— Contact Staff Writer Dan Hickling at 282-1535.
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