TOPSHAM

A couple weeks ago, you might have been called crazy for predicting two straight wins for the Mt. Ararat High School girls basketball team.

After breaking a seven-game losing skid with a win over Biddeford this past Friday, the Eagles were back at home on Monday eyeing revenge against Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference rival Morse. Win No. 2 was up in the air with a couple minutes to play, but sturdy defense and clutch free throws eventually had the home crowd on its feet celebrating a 37-30 win.

Suddenly, the streak is a winning one.

“They’ve always had it in them,” Mt. Ararat coach Andy Morris said. “We had a great preseason, I think we talked about that. We beat some pretty good teams and stayed with one very good team. With the first win we got the other day, they’re starting to believe in themselves.”

Down two with three minutes left to play, Mt. Ararat (2-7) reeled off a 5-0 run out of a timeout that made the score 30-27. Two big free throws from senior Kate Guerin gave the Eagles the lead back and this time, they weren’t giving it up.

Morse (4-6) responded with a bucket at the other end, but Mt. Ararat kept driving right at the Shipbuilder defense like it had all night. Nikki Bradstreet coolly swished a pair of late free throws to secure the win and capped off a well-executed game plan.

The Eagles hit 22-of-33 from the charity stripe.

“It’s a big emphasis at practice,” Morris said of the getting to the line. “It was a big emphasis tonight when our outside shot wasn’t working. We said ‘get to the front of the rim, get to the paint and make things happen.’ In my mind, you have to do it all, but foul shots can win games. Tonight it definitely proved it.”

“Really essential,” Guerin said. “We take pride in that in our team this year and every single point counts. Every single point.”

Bradstreet led the way in attacking the basket, finishing with a game-high 13 points on 10 free throws. She hit the only 3-pointer of the night and went 6-for-6 from the line in the fourth quarter.

“She has matured so much,” Morris said of Bradstreet. “She was the first one that was always fouling out. Now, she’s playing within herself a little bit more. She had a cold night shooting, but she kept shooting and they were great shots. She knows what we’re trying to do and she got to the foul line. And then she knocked them down. Just a great person and a great player.”

Morse kicked on the half-court press and tried to force one of many turnovers on the night, but when it mattered most, the Eagles held onto the ball and drew the fouls that won them the game.

“Just staying positive,” said Guerin, who tallied all five of her points from the line. “We do a lot of fourth-quarter training in practice, every single day. Every single second counts and to not give up, even in the end, to believe in ourselves. We struggled in the past and this is our year to come back and make a difference.”

“They play hard,” Morse coach Becky Roak said. “That’s what I told them from the beginning — Mt. Ararat is not going to go away and they’re going to stick around. One big shot here or there can be a difference in this game and that’s what it came down to.”

Defense first

Morse took control of the opening quarter with hard-nosed defense. The Eagles managed just two points in the opening frame and didn’t score a two-point basket until early in the second.

But for Roak, the 6-2 lead after eight minutes was a missed opportunity.

“First half, I think we had eight missed bunnies in the paint,” she said. “We had a lot of missed shots around the basket that I think could have opened it up in the first half. Then we got into foul trouble and had to play tentatively defensively.”

Junior Marissa Parks dominated the glass throughout the night, pulling in seven of her nine total rebounds on the offensive end and finishing with a team-high nine points.

Senior Noa Sreden (five points) reached the line five times in the fourth quarter, but alternated a miss and make each time. Sierra Wallace finished with eight points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.

On top of some missed chances, Morse simply didn’t find an answer to Mt. Ararat’s constant penetration.

“We’ve got to try and keep it in front,” Roak said. “They have (Nikki) Bradstreet that can shoot it pretty much from everywhere. But other than that, everyone else is going to look to penetrate first and we didn’t do a nice job of keeping them in front. They did a nice job attacking the basket, which created those fouls.”

Hope Faulkingham notched seven points for the Shipbuilders and Mae Winglass rounded out the scoring with a free throw. Conversely, Mt. Ararat had nine different scorers, including Kyla Greenleaf and Sabrina Paetow with four each. All three of Katelyn Cox’s points came from the line.

“Overall, it was the freethrow line,” Roak said of the difference. “They hit 22 freethrows and I think we went 16 times to the free-throw line. When you’re making 22 free throws, number one that means we’re in foul trouble and number two that means you’re extending away from that other team. In the last minute, that’s where it was.”

Mt. Ararat 37,
Morse 30

At Mt. Ararat High School
Morse — 6 7 8 9 — 30
Mt. Ararat — 2 11 9 15 — 37
Morse — Emma Gould 0-0-0, Sierra
Wallace 4-0-8, Hope Faulkingham 3-1-
7, Marissa Parks 4-1-9, Noa Sreden 0-
5-5, Mae Winglass 0-1-1, Maddy
Mitchell 0-0-0. Totals — 11-8-30.
Mt. Ararat — Kyla Greenleaf 1-2-4,
Nikki Bradstreet 1-10-13, Katelyn Cox
0-3-3, Sabrina Paetow 2-0-4, Kate
Guerin 0-5-5, Lauren Labbay 0-0-0,
Theresa Breed 1-1-3, Ainsley Bryant 0-
1-1, Caitlyn Smith 1-0-2, Ashley Parker 1-0-2, Grace Liedman 0-0-0. Totals
— 7-22-37.
3-point field goals — (MtA) Bradstreet. Records — Mt. Ararat 2-7; Morse 4-6.
Up next for the Shipbuilders —
Thursday at home against Brunswick,
5 p.m.
Up next for the Eagles — Thursday at
home against Lewiston, 6 p.m.