Nokomis posts win for teammate Foss

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NEWPORT – On a night the Nokomis girls basketball team desperately wanted to play well in front of its fans – one special family in particular – the Warriors put on quite a display of basketball.

Nokomis rebounded, hounded, shot and ran over Brewer en route to an impressive 71-18 victory over Big East Conference rival Brewer at the high school gym Friday.

Junior guard Lindsey Welch led the way with 20 points in the Warriors’ home opener – an opener that should have taken place Dec. 20, the night a snowstorm postponed a game against Mount Desert Island and the night Warrior player Mandi Foss died in a snowmobile accident. Foss’ family was at the gym Friday night, and Nokomis wanted the victory for them.

Instead of letting the pressure to win be a distraction, the defending Class A state champions funneled it into defense.

“[Nokomis coach Earl Anderson] told us that we needed to communicate more and help off the ball also,” Welch said. “We wanted to come out here and show them that we … could play as good as we wanted to play. We knew that we wanted to do this for Mandi and her family and that’s why we came out here so much intensity and energy.”

Playing a man-to-man defense and a full-court press, Nokomis hassled Brewer into nine turnovers (while committing just one) and jumped out to 25-4 lead in the first quarter. The Witches didn’t score until Rachel Wing (team-high seven points) put back a rebound with 37 seconds left in the period.

Nokomis poured in 19 more points in the second quarter, sparked by Welch’s 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line and at least one field goal from five different players. The Warriors went 25-for-48 (52 percent) overall from the field.

“They are very, very well-coached, disciplined, and they just don’t make mistakes on the defensive end, and they take great shots on the offensive end,” Brewer coach Mark Savage said. “We didn’t come ready to play them.”

Brewer put in five more points in the second quarter and committed eight turnovers.

“Everyone played defense really well and that’s what won the game for us,” said Nokomis junior forward Danielle Clark, who scored 20 points (11 in the first quarter) and grabbed seven rebounds. “When we get running and jumping we have a lot of quick people who can play defense on their guards.”

Welch made all eight of her free-throw attempts. Junior forward Sara Lowe contributed 10 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Clark, a first-team All-Maine selection last year, was surprised to see a defense that didn’t involve trying to zone her out of the post area, especially because that’s all she has seen so far this season

“They dared to plan man-to-man on us,” she said. “We haven’t seen that. We’ve seen all zone [in previous games this season]. It’s easier for us to get open on man-to-man.”

Savage felt strongly about sticking with his game plan.

“We believe in man-to-man defense,” he said. “… Tonight, it didn’t work at all.”

Nokomis’ only glitch came in the third quarter, when junior guard Michelle Murray picked up five fouls in a span of just over four minutes. As the Warriors came out of their huddle to start the fourth quarter they jokingly yelled together, “Michelle’s awful!” which drew a laugh from the fans behind the bench.

WARRIORS 71, WITCHES 18

Brewer (2-3) Nokomis (3-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Adams 1 5 0 0 2 Welch 5 11 20

Bean 1 4 0 0 2 J.Gould 0 3 0 0

Freeman 0 5 0 0 0 Murray 1 3 3

Hamm 0 2 2 5 2 K.Gould 0 0 0 0

McLaughlin 0 1 0 0 0 Snow 2 2 4

Wing 3 4 1 3 7 Mackenzie 2 3 6

McAvoy 1 7 0 2 2 Paradis 2 2 6

Armstrong 0 0 1 2 1 Merrow 1 3 3

Chapman 1 3 0 1 2 Perry 0 0 0

Alberding 0 1 0 0 0 Lowe 4 8 10

Michaud 0 1 0 0 0 Clark 8 13 19

Totals 7 33 4 13 18 25 48 16 20 71

Brewer 4 9 13 18

Nokomis 25 44 67 71

3-pt. goals ? Brewer (0-6): Bean 0-1, Freeman 0-1, Hamm 0-1, McLaughlin 0-1, McAvoy 0-1, Armstrong 0-1; Nokomis (5-11): MacKenzie 2-3, Welch 2-5, Murray 1-1, J. Gould 0-2

Attendance: 400 (est.)

Preliminary: Nokomis JV 50-41