CAPE ELIZABETH — It was a serious case of Jekyll and Hyde for the Wells girls basketball team Tuesday night.

The Warriors overcame a 16-point halftime deficit, and held the Capers to four second-half points en route to a 33-26 Class B win.

“I told the girls at halftime that if Cape could out score us by 16 points in the first half, there wasn’t any reason we couldn’t outscore them by 16 in the second half,” Wells coach Don Abbott said. “They really responded when they needed to.”

Wells held Cape to one field goal in the second half ”“ a Kate Miklavic 3-pointer early in the third quarter ”“ and one free throw near the end of the fourth quarter. The Warriors also forced 14 second-half turnovers, including eight in the fourth quarter as they increased their defensive intensity.

“We knew we can play defense like that,” Wells senior guard Kelly Beisswanger said. “We felt we played our worst half of basketball in the first half, and when we play defense like that, we know we can step it up.”

Beisswanger made one of the most important plays of the game for Wells late in the fourth quarter. With 1:49 left, she stole a pass, made a left-handed layup and drew the foul, cutting the deficit to 25-24. She drained the free throw and tied the game at 25.

“We were down by two, and I knew we needed the ball,” Beisswanger said. “It looked like I could get to the ball, and I made a move for it and just wanted to see what would happen.”

Beisswanger stole the next Cape Elizabeth pass, but missed the shot. Wells’ sophomore forward Alison Furness grabbed the rebound and made a left-handed layup that gave the Warriors their first lead of the game at 27-25 with 1:43 left.

“I was pretty happy to get that rebound,” Furness said. “I just didn’t try to force the shot.”

Wells iced the game making six straight free throws in the final minute.

“We’re a good free-throw shooting team,” Furness said. “It showed tonight.”

In the first half, Wells committed 11 turnovers, missed nine field goal attempts and didn’t attempt a free throw.

On the flip side, Cape Elizabeth opened the game with a 9-0 run, taking a 9-0 lead when Kayla Raftice stole the ball and raced in for a layup with a little more than one minute to play in the first quarter.

Wells didn’t score its first basket of the first quarter until senior forward Mariyah Heath made a putback with 3.6 seconds left for a 9-2 score.

Cape opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run thanks to back-to-back Raftice 3-pointers and a Marlo Dell’Aquila layup that gave the Capers a 17-4 lead with 5:36 to play. Wells’ sophomore guard Nicole Moody made a basket at the 7:13 mark of the quarter, and Furness made a jumper with 4:36 left to play in the half for the Warriors’ only first-half points.

“We’re a young team,” Abbott said. “Still, that was by far the worst half of basketball we had played this season. Cape, give them credit, was playing very well.”

The second half started as poorly for the Warriors as the first half ended. Wells opened the half with four straight turnovers. It seemed like everything would go well for Cape (2-7) as Miklavic’s 3-pointer bounced high off the rim and fell through the net, giving the Capers a 25-6 lead with 7:23 left. That was Cape Elizabeth’s last field goal as Wells embarked on a 23-0 run starting at the 7:14 mark of the third quarter and ending with 1:03 left in the fourth quarter.

Beisswanger started the run with a 6-foot jumper that cut the lead to 25-8. She then cut the score to 25-9 with 6:02 left in the third quarter when she attempted Wells’ first free throw of the game.

“We usually attempt about 20 free throws a game,” Abbott said. “For us not to get our first free-throw attempt until the third quarter shows that we weren’t playing with enough intensity.”

Senior guard Jeni Wallingford made Wells’ only 3-pointer of the game with 3:55 remaining in the third quarter, cutting the score to 25-14. She then forced a turnover on the next play, and Furness took advantage making a driving layup that cut the score to 25-16 with 2:47 to play in the third.

Furness’ layup at the 5:59 mark of the fourth quarter cut the deficit to 25-19, and then sophomore guard Meghan Young’s 5-foot jumper at the 4:10 mark made it 25-21.

Heath’s free throw with 2:29 left in the fourth quarter made it 25-22, and then Beisswanger made her steal that eventually led to the game-tying free throw.

“We never give up,” Furness said. “We will always battle until the end.”

Furness finished with eight points. Beisswanger scored six points, and Nicole Moody led Wells with nine points. Raftice led all scorers with 13 points ”“ 12 in the first half.

Wells (6-3) plays again on Thursday when it travels to York for a 7 p.m. game.

— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535, Ext. 323.