Second win vs. Lions sweeter for Mustangs

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THORNDIKE – After every basketball game this season the Mount View girls have enjoyed a pan of homemade peanut butter-chocolate fudge, and Wednesday’s game against Belfast was no different. This time, though, the win may have been sweeter than the confection.

The Mustangs, who had dropped a regular-season home game against the Lions by a point, held off Belfast this time for a 39-30 win in an Eastern Maine Class B second-round preliminary game at the high school gym.

Coach Charlie Wing’s Mount View squad (13-6) will face No. 3 Erskine Academy of South China in a tourney quarterfinal at the Bangor Auditorium Friday at 7:35 p.m.

“We knew we wanted to get this back, especially on our turf,” said Heather Carter, who led the Mustangs with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lions wrap up their season with a 7-13 mark.

Both Belfast and Mount View tried to pump the ball to their inside players but stalled there when they missed open layup opportunities. The two teams combined to go 24-for-80 from the floor.

“That was the big difference,” Belfast coach Dick LaHaye said. “On both sides, how can you miss that many shots? You have to attribute that to jitters. Mount View is a tournament-tested team and this is the first time we’ve been in this situation.”

Mount View composed itself in the third quarter, and Heather Carter opened the second half with a basket off a pass from Danielle Mayer, and the hoop seemed to spark the Mustangs both offensively and defensively. Mount View scored eight unanswered points to take a 29-13 lead.

Cassidy Groening ended Belfast’s offensive drought with 3:06 left in the third quarter, and the Lions fought to get back into the game. Kate Ross drained a 3-pointer, Kate LaHaye (Dick LaHaye’s daughter) made two free throws and Groening scored again from the inside to cut the lead to 29-22.

Belfast got even closer in the fourth. Mount View had a nine-point lead when LaHaye connected on a baseline drive, then stole the ball to regain possession for the Lions. The steal resulted in a Ross layup and a six-point lead for the Mustangs with six minutes left.

Each team made a basket to keep the lead at six, but Mount View shot free throws and played a slower version of its offense to eat up the clock the rest of the way.

Senior Kim Stevens (six points, eight rebounds) said Belfast’s defensive changes – the Lions started out in man but switched to different zones – may have tripped up the Mustangs at first.

“[We had to] keep playing our game, get it inside, pass it outside, try and get a couple of open shots and basically dominate the first four minutes of the second half, because that’s the key to winning ball games,” Stevens said.

Mayer finished with seven points and four assists. Ashley Barnard added six rebounds.

Belfast’s LaHaye, a 6-foot senior who registered 14 double-doubles in the regular season, logged 11 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Lions Wednesday. Kate scored seven points. Morgan Crandall and Groening added six each.

“I felt we did a good job doubling on her, because she’s big and she can rebound and she can shoot,” Wing said. “We put as much pressure on her as we can without fouling her.”

Mustangs 39, Lions 30

No. 11 Belfast (7-13) No. 6 Mount View (13-6)

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

Crandall 3 6 0 0 6 Goehringer 1 6

Groening 3 3 0 0 6 Mayer 3 11 7

A. Bryant 0 4 0 2 0 Hunter 0 0 0

K. Bryant 0 4 0 0 0 Barnard 1 2 3

Brown 0 0 0 0 0 Arute 0 0 0 0

Lane 0 0 0 0 0 Swanson 0 0 1 1

Ross 3 5 0 0 7 Picard 0 0 0 0

Marden 0 0 0 0 0 Carter 5 15 6 10 16

Billings 0 0 0 0 0 Drummond 0 0

Mehuren 0 2 0 0 0 Stevens 1 9 4 6

LaHaye 4 15 3 7 11

Duval 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 13 39 3 9 30 11 41 15 26 39

Belfast 7 13 22 30

Mount View 11 21 31 39

3-pt. goals: Belfast (1-3): Ross 1-1, LaHaye 1-2, K. Bryant; Mount View (2-5): Barnard 1-1, Goehringer 1-3, Mayer 0-1

Attendance: 300 (est.)