The Brunswick girls basketball team showed why they are the top-seeded team in the State Class A South high school tournament.
The Dragons got points from nine different players, using the hot hand, nailing nine 3-pointers while stifling their opponent on defense, as Brunswick cruised to a 74-25 win over No. 9 Falmouth at the Portland Expo.
Brunswick wasted no time jumping out to an early lead by opening the game with a 9-0 run, capped by a steal and a basket by Sabrina Armstrong.
“It was important for us to go out and grab an early lead,” said Brunswick coach Sam Farrell. “We haven’t played in over a week, so we were ready to go. We’ve played here before, but anytime you’re in a game like this there can be jitters.”
The Dragons forced seven first-quarter turnovers and allowed only two field goals, and after an Armstrong trey, Brunswick took a commanding 17-5 lead after eight minutes.
“Our defense is the key to everything we do,” said Armstrong. “We put the pressure on and that usually translates into helping our offense.”
Armstrong was one of five Dragons to score in the opening quarter, tallying eight points. Brunswick controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Yachtsmen, 7- 1, led by Alexis Guptil’s four caroms.
As the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference champs have done all season, they looked for the hot hand in the second quarter. Using passes around the perimeter, spreading out the Falmouth defense, the Dragons were able to sink 4-of-6 shots from behind the arc to extend their lead to 31-10 late in the second quarter.
Charlotte MacMillan had the hot hand in the second frame. The junior hit a pair 3-pointers, pouring in nine points in the quarter.
“We’re pretty good at finding the open people and moving the ball really well, and getting it to them,” said MacMillan, who also had two steals in the quarter to go along with her two in the first frame.
Brunswick’s defense forced nine more turnovers, while holding the Yachtsmen to just seven points. Falmouth was playing without its leading scorer, Gracie Soucy, who scored 24 points in the prelim victory over Morse last week.
Brunswick took a 35-10 lead into the break, but that wasn’t enough for the Dragons.
“They weren’t too happy with some of the things we did in the first half, said Farrell. “They were talking to each other on the whole down (to the locker room) about fixing things that we weren’t doing right. They were coaching each other up. We have two captains, but we have a lot of leaders. When you have kids that care so much and want to succeed, it definitely makes my job easier.”
MacMillan and teammate Marley Groat continued the hot hands for Brunswick to open the second half. MacMillan registered six more points, including a putback early. Groat tallied seven points, including Brunswick’s eighth 3-pointer of the game, while assisting on two more hoops.
Less than four minutes into the quarter, Brunswick outscored Falmouth 17-7 and held a comfortable lead, 54- 19. The Yachtsmen committed seven more turnovers in the frame and trailed 60-20 after three quarters. MacMillan also had three more steals in the quarter.
“We want to win every game and we knew they’d want to as well,” said MacMillan. “We just wanted to come out and play tonight like any other game this season.”
Falmouth only managed one field goal in the final quarter, as Brunswick put its final stamp on the victory.
MacMillan scored a game-high 17 points while having seven steals. Groat followed with 12 points and Armstrong added 11. Rian Sachs netted nine points and Emily Larochelle chipped in eight, including a pair of 3- pointers. Senior MacKenzie Burrows and Guptil had six points apiece. Guptil also hauled in 10 rebounds.
Allison Cunningham led Falmouth with seven points, while Maddy Joyce followed with six.
With the semifinal game against York on Wednesday morning, Farrell isn’t too concerned with the quick turnaround.
“There were a bunch of times we played Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, so we don’t mind. We like to keep the momentum,” said Farrell. “We’d play tomorrow if we could.”
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