SANFORD— Sharp shooting and steady defense helped the Sanford girls basketball team to a 47-19 victory over the visiting Noble girls Tuesday night.

The Spartans were led by junior guard Summer Camire with 12 points, including nine coming from 3-pointers. Fellow junior Kristen O’Connell also added eight points on the night.

Noble’s Sam Couture led the team with five points.

Sanford jumped out to a fast 8-0 lead in the first.

O’Connell had a stellar opening period, scoring the team’s first eight points within the first five minutes of the contest.

The Spartans also controlled the ball in transition and won the possession battle throughout the first quarter, giving them a 9-0 lead heading into the second.

Sanford continued to control the game with dominant offensive play.

In the second quarter, five different Sanford girls scored, and the Spartan outscored Noble 12-5 in the second, giving them a comfortable 21-5 lead heading into halftime.

Noble entered the third playing much tighter defense in the paint, preventing Sanford from getting to the basket for layups.

Camire began taking more shots and scored the Spartan’s first five points of the third.

In a last chance effort to stay in the game, Noble pieced together a long scoring run spanning from late in the third into the early fourth quarter, where they went on an 11-0 spree, pulling them within 12.

For the remainder of the match, Sanford dominated the game.

Thanks to a 20-3 run in the final quarter, Sanford pulled away with a 47-19 victory.

Although Sanford made plenty of shots, coach Tracy Lizotte was particularly impressed with her team’s defense as well.

“I am very happy with the team’s performance tonight. I thought we played great defensively, offensively we are still trying to click continuously, but I am very happy,” said Lizotte.

Lizotte was also pleased by the way her team maintained its composure during the late Noble run and was able to seal the deal in the final quarter.

“They went on that run when they were hitting their shots, but I was proud of the way the girls hung in there,” said Lizotte. “They were composed and kept playing aggressive. They never allowed them to really control the tempo of the game.”

Perhaps part of the Spartans’ success was the new looks they threw at the opposing Noble squad. According to Lizotte, her team used multiple new combinations of players.

“We played a lot of different girls tonight, we used a lot of different combinations. That is what I was most proud of,” said Lizotte. “We threw a lot of things at them that we have not done before and they did a good job, they played aggressive and fast. I wanted to make sure that if something went wrong or they couldn’t make a play that they would shake it off an move to the next one. I think they demonstrated that tonight.”

Lizotte was happy with her team’s fast start, however, moving forward she would like to see her team to play at a high level for all four quarters.

“We’re pretty good at the fast start, it’s the finish,” said Lizotte. “It’s coming out at halftime and continuing to play well. It is about controlling the pace of the game, controlling the tempo, that is what every team is trying to do. We have been doing it in spurts, but I would like to see us doing it for more extended periods.”

— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282- 1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.