HERMON – The Hermon girls thought they already had enough to worry about Saturday night against an Ellsworth team with a sizeable height advantage inside. When Hawks starting senior forward and co-captain Lindsay Duplisea left the game for good with a knee injury late in the first half, things went from glum to grim … for about a minute or so.

Rather than get into an emotional funk over their recent misfortune, the Hawks doubled their defensive effort and intensity while responding with an 8-2 run to take a nine-point halftime lead as they went on to an impressive, season-opening 52-37 victory at Hermon High’s gym.

“We couldn’t let that get to us,” said Hawks senior forward Melissa Overlock. “We were all worried about [Duplisea], but we had to get in the game. We knew we had to run our offenses, play tough defense and box out.”

Led by their other 5-foot-7 senior captain, Overlock, the Hawks did a near-textbook job of boxing out the bigger Eagles and actually outrebounded Ellsworth 41-21 overall and 21-10 on the offensive boards.

Combined with a soundly executed man-to-man defense that kept any Eagles player from having a big offensive game and helped force 14 Ellsworth turnovers, the Hawks – who committed only seven turnovers themselves – took firm control in the second half.

“We just tried to put enough pressure on them so they couldn’t shoot an uncontested three, but not so much that we’d get beat on the dribble,” said Hermon coach Don Erb. “I told them that’s probably the best we’ve played as a team … in a while. I’m really proud of them.”

Hermon never trailed following the game’s first 61/2 minutes and maintained a comfortable lead that never dipped below eight points in the second half.

Overlock, who finished with a game-high 21 points, also grabbed 10 rebounds and made two steals.

“I have to say Melissa just really stepped it up tonight. You could just see it, especially after Lindsay went out,” said Erb, who said after the game that Duplisea’s injury appeared to be a left knee sprain.

Duplisea wasn’t the only key starter to miss most of the game. Adding to Ellsworth’s offensive funk was the absence of starting forward Sarah Silsby, who injured her back in practice last week.

“We missed her inside,” said Ellsworth coach Drew Myers. “I was going to start another player for her, but she was shaken up a bit in a car accident the other day, so it really jumbled up our lineup.”

That’s not to say Myers was making excuses. Instead, he put the bulk of the blame squarely on a lack of fundamental execution.

“The difference in the game was they had like 25 offensive rebounds. Our initial defense wasn’t bad, it was them getting five, six shots almost every time down the court,” Myers explained. “And on offense, we had the inside. We just weren’t looking for it. The person would come wide-open and we wouldn’t pass it to them.”

Junior forward Rachel Jenkins was another Hermon standout as she scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Erb also singled out guards Taren MacDonald, Jessie Wiggin, and Jenny Buzzell for special praise: Macdonald (two steals) for her defensive work on speedy Eagles guard May Chan (six points on 3-for-13 shooting), Buzzell for her all-around (five rebounds, four assists) play, and Wiggins for coming off the bench to take the point.

All three were key defensive cogs despite an average height of just over 5-foot-4 per girl against a taller Eagles lineup.

“We’re not that tall, but we matched up pretty well with them,” Overlock said.

Junior Jodie Merchant came off the bench to lead the Eagles with seven points and six rebounds.

Hawks 52, Eagles 37

Ellsworth (0-1) Hermon (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Eaton 0 0 0 0 0 Wiggins 1 3 3 4 5

Chan 3 13 0 0 6 Hichborn 0 1 0 0 0

Patten 3 10 0 0 6 Garland 0 0 0 0 0

Pelletier 2 2 2 2 6 Duplisea 1 7 0 0 2

Sirois 2 8 1 2 6 MacDonald 2 8 3 7 7

Merchant 2 5 3 4 7 Reynolds 0 2 2 2 2

Jones 0 0 0 0 0 Overlock 8 18 5 6 21

Glass 0 0 0 0 0 Buzzell 0 2 1 4 1

Mason 1 1 0 0 2 Frost 0 1 0 0 0

Page 1 5 0 0 2 Jenkins 3 8 8 12 14

Lutz 0 1 2 2 2

Totals 14 45 8 10 37 Totals 15 50 22 35 52

Ellsworth 10 16 31 37

Hermon 10 25 40 52

3-pt. goals: Ellsworth (1-9): Sirois 1-5, Merchant 0-1, Chan 0-3; Hermon (0-7): Wiggins 0-1, MacDonald 0-1, Overlock 0-2, Duplisea 0-3

Attendance: 150 (est.)

JV: Ellsworth 51-30