FAIRFIELD – The Legend of Cindy Blodgett grew tenfold on Wednesday night.

Just when you thought the 5-foot-9 Lawrence High School superstar had done everything she could do on a basketball court, she goes out and creates yet another incredible performance to add to the annals of basketball in this state.

With her team trailing by 15 points with 5:54 left in the fourth quarter, Blodgett scored 18 of her team’s final 21 points to lead the Bulldogs to an absolutely amazing 63-59 come-from-behind victory over the Cony Rams of Augusta.

“She is just phenomonal,” said Lawrence Coach Bruce Cooper. “If anybody had any question that she’s not the best (schoolgirl) player this state has ever seen, they’ve just got to rewind the reel and watch that fourth quarter. Cony is a great team and they did everything they could to slow her down. But, once she started to get it going, forget it.”

Forget it? How could anybody forget this:

The spotlight was on Blodgett from the beginning. Playing in front of a statewide television audience, a Sports Illustrated photographer, and a packed Folsom Gym crowd, Blodgett simply did not disappoint.

She scored 44 points on 18-for-27 shooting, yet saved the best for last.

A 3-pointer from the top of the key by Cony’s Amy Vachon gave the Rams a 57-42 lead with 5:54 left. It would be Cony’s final field goal of the game.

Blodgett wasted no time in answering that hoop, taking the ball upcourt and hitting her own 3-pointer with 5:41 left.

After Cony’s Mary Beth Coughlin missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and the teams swapped turnovers, Blodgett scored on an offensive rebound to cut the lead to 10.

After Vachon threw up an airball from 3-point land, Jill Atwood cut the advantage to seven, hitting a 3-pointer from the side of the key.

Timeout Cony.

Back-to-back Cony turnovers were then answered by Blodgett, knocking the lead to 57-54 with 2:48 left.

Vachon ended Cony’s scoreless streak with two free throws, but Blodgett hit a six-footer in the paint.

Raegan LaRochelle then missed a 3-pointer for Cony before Blodgett sent the Bulldog faithful in a frenzy with the game-tying 3-pointer with 1:36 left.

The game-winner, an 18-footer from the left side of the key by Blodgett, came with 1:01 left.

The Rams worked the clock down to 18 seconds before calling a timeout, but Angela Beaudoin forced a pass inside for Cony’s 15th and final turnover of the game.

Two free throws by Blodgett with nine seconds left iced it.

Blodgett finished with 20 points in the final quarter on 8-for-8 shooting.

“I felt that if I could get the crowd going and start making my shots, then, emotionally, the team would get up,” Blodgett said. “I figured if we were going to lose, we were going to go down playing hard. But everybody just fed off that emotion.”

Blodgett had set up the fourth quarter run by casually flicking in a 33-footer at the third-quarter buzzer to leave Lawrence trailing 51-38.

“When that shot went in, I felt like I couldn’t miss,” Blodgett said. “It was sort of like a zone you get into. I didn’t want to lose here. I’ve never lost here and that was one of Cony’s goals, to beat us on our home floor. We have to keep this in perspective. It’s only a regular season game.”

Cony Coach Paul Vachon was at a loss for words.

“We let it get away,” he said. “It was our game all the way. Hopefully, it doesn’t sting too much. We’ll be back.”

The Rams did come out of the blocks in a hurry.

After Blodgett opened the scoring with a baseline layup, Cony grabbed leads of 7-2, 9-4, and 15-6 before Cooper called timeout.

Still, by halftime, Cony had built itself a 38-21 lead.

“I hope we proved to a lot of people that you can’t throw dirt on the top of our coffin until the final buzzer goes off,” Cooper said. “This team just proved they can come out of a deep, deep hole and still win.”

Especially with the Legend of Cindy Blodgett always on their side.

Bulldogs 63, Rams 59

Cony Lawrence

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Vachon 12 5 10 7 19 York 3 0 0 0 0

Duffy 2 1 1 0 3 W.Atwood 14 5 3 0 11

Coughlin 7 1 1 0 2 Blodgett 27 18 5 4 44

Beaudoin 5 1 2 1 3 J.Atwood 5 1 1 0 3

LaFerriere 6 2 2 1 5 Clark 7 1 0 0 2

Pridham 7 4 0 0 10 Tabone 2 0 0 0 0

LaRochelle 9 5 2 2 14 Weymouth 2 0 6 3 3

Huber 2 1 1 1 3 Francoeur 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 50 20 19 12 59 Totals 60 25 15 7 63

Cony 20 38 51 59

Lawrence 12 21 38 63

3-pt. goals: Cony (7-for-24): Vachon 2-7, Pridham 2-5, LaRochelle 2-5, Duffy 1-1, Coughlin 0-6; Lawrence (6-15): Blodgett 4-5, J. Atwood 1-3, W. Atwood 1-3, 0-1, Tabone 0-2, York 0-1.