BUCKSPORT – Using an average three-inch height advantage across the frontcourt and a 60.9-percent effort from the free-throw line, Bucksport rolled to a season-opening 66-53 Class B schoolgirl basketball victory Friday night against Foxcroft Academy.

The frontcourt of sophomore Christy Grover and senior Christina Wheeler provided 37 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Golden Bucks.

The Golden Bucks further exploited their overall height advantage in their 1-2-2 defensive zone to outrebound the Ponies 35-18.

“They were badly, badly outrebounded and that’s what cost us the game,” Foxcroft coach Ashley Jackins said. “We knew our only chance to stay with this team was to uptempo the game and we did, but we got into foul trouble.”

Foxcroft held Bucksport to two field goals in the second quarter but gave up 18 free-throw attempts, 12 of which the Golden Bucks put through the net for a 39-33 halftime lead.

The Ponies’ full-court press bothered Bucksport through the first half as Kelly Dow came up with five of her six steals. Dow collected nine points when she turned four steals into layups and notched one conventional three-point play to keep the Ponies close.

The 5-foot, 7-inch guard finished with a game-high 28 points and five rebounds to lead the Ponies.

“We worked on [breaking the full-court press] all week,” Bucksport coach Mike Archer said. “They’re so quick up front. Deri-Ann [White] and Kelly are so quick up front, and if you hold onto the ball and let them come to you, they can cause trouble.

“We just felt if we could take care of the ball tonight and get it in down low, we would be fine,” he said. “We knew we could match up well at the top.”

But as the fouls piled up, Dow’s efforts couldn’t counteract the Bucks’ proficiency from the line.

The Bucks sank 28 of 46 free-throw attempts led by Grover, who made 10 of 15. Wheeler made seven of 11, and freshman Maggie Cropp came off the bench to sink six of eight.

Grover finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Golden Bucks.

Foxcroft’s offense couldn’t break free of Bucksport throughout the second half and the Ponies were limited to 23 shots in 16 minutes.

Foxcroft attempted to free up the outside shot by passing the ball into the middle but the Golden Bucks’ defense swarmed all over it and rarely allowed the ball to get to the outside shooter.

“The Bucksport girls did a great job of shadowing the ball,” Jackins said. “Our entry passes were shadowed. We had a hard time getting them in, and when we did get them in, we couldn’t get it out again.

“We didn’t run our offense as well as I hoped we would in the second half as far as being disciplined,” he said. “If we had been patient and swung the ball effectively, we would have gotten the open shot. But we only got one shot, in each half-court set.”

Bucksport gave up five points in less than a minute during the third quarter as Foxcroft closed the gap to six points with 4:27 left. But the Golden Bucks then stonewalled the Ponies for nearly five minutes while grabbing a 51-38 lead entering the final quarter.

Dow put in nine of the Ponies final 15 points before fouling out with 1:49 left.

“It would be unrealistic to not realize that we don’t have anyone who can match up with her for the whole game,” Archer said. “You’ve got to swallow your ego. We didn’t want her to beat us alone. She’s capable and she will. She’ll beat teams.”

Golden Bucks 66, Ponies 53

Foxcroft (0-1) Bucksport (1-0)

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

Emmons 0 0 0 0 0 Bakeman 0 0 0 0 0

Mueller 0 5 0 0 0 MacPherson 0 0 0 0 0

Clawson 0 1 0 0 0 Cropp 0 0 6 8 6

Warren 4 9 0 0 10 Wheeler 3 11 7 11 13

Chase 0 0 0 0 0 Jellison 1 5 2 2 4

White 2 7 0 0 5 Downes 2 6 1 2 6

K. Dow 10 22 7 9 28 Henderson 5 8 1 2 12

Smith 0 1 1 2 1 Smith 0 3 1 2 1

Nelson 2 10 0 0 4 Grover 7 13 10 15 24

A. Dow 0 2 0 0 0 Wardwell 0 1 0 0 0

Merrill 1 6 3 6 5 Sawyer 0 1 0 4 0

Totals 19 63 11 17 53 Totals 18 48 28 46 66

Foxcroft 15 33 38 53

Bucksport 23 39 51 66

3-pt. goals: Foxcroft (4-14): Clawson 0-1, Warren 2-5, White 1-3, Dow 1-5; Bucksport (2-4): Downes 1-2, Henderson 1-2

Preliminary: Bucksport JVs 70, Foxcroft JVs 32