With 6-foot-4 senior center Marissa MacMillan controlling the paint at both ends for Deering in the decisive first half, the Rams’ stifled a good Sanford squad.

How much did they shut down the Spartans’ offense? Well, Deering didn’t score in the fourth quarter – taking just one shot – and still won, 32-19, in Thursday’s Class A game.

“We were up by 15 points. Why play into their hands and take bad shots?” Deering Coach Mike Murphy said of his team’s clock-draining offense.

On the other side, Sanford Coach Kristy Parent said she felt her team was down by too many points to bother with the purposeful fouling approach.

So the matchup of previously unbeaten squads came to a quiet conclusion

Deering improved to 5-0. Sanford is now 3-1.

MacMillan scored all of her eight points in the first half. Keneisha DiRamio and LeeAnn Downs led Deering with nine points each.

Sanford’s top trio of Morgan Fogg, Samantha Adams and center Heather LeBlanc entered the game each averaging double figures. They finished with six, five and five points, respectively.