JONESPORT – The Shead girls basketball team took everything Jonesport-Beals threw at it – including a box-and-1 defense and a fine rebounding effort – and emerged with a key win Monday in a Downeast Athletic Conference matchup.

Kristen Beaulieu poured in 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Tigerettes to a 45-41 victory at the high school gym.

Shead moves to 7-5, while Jonesport-Beals drops to 5-5. Before the game, Tigerettes coach Dean Preston told his team a win could move the Tigerettes into second place in the Class D Southeastern region Heal Point standings, and that made the girls want the win even more.

“He said this was like a playoff game for us,” Beaulieu said.

The Royalettes came out in a box-and-1 with senior Shafay Look guarding Samantha Davis. The defense seemed to bother Davis early, but she found a way to be effective – by either pumping the ball inside to Beaulieu or throwing up shots and letting the 5-foot-9 center put back the offensive rebounds.

“Our coach was telling us to block out and try to get rebounds,” Beaulieu said. “He had [Davis] turn into the middle and turn into the middle and dish it or shoot.”

Beaulieu’s rebounding was critical in the third quarter. The Tigerettes led the Royalettes 16-14 at halftime and 19-18 later in the third quarter, but Davis found a way around the defense for a jumper, Beaulieu put back a rebound, and 5-7 forward Nadine Bouchard scored on another put-back. The three unanswered baskets gave Shead a seven-point lead.

“We felt more confident after that,” Davis said.

Beaulieu scored three baskets on offensive rebounds and another off a pass from Davis to give the Tigerettes a 31-24 advantage at the end of the third. Jonesport-Beals came out of its box-and-1 and played man-to-man, which opened things up for the quick Davis. She tossed in 11 points in the fourth quarter and scored all of Shead’s points in a 7-2 run in the fourth.

Jonesport-Beals forwards Katie Griffin and Ashten Smith were doing all they could to keep Beaulieu off the boards (Smith finished with team highs of 16 points and 14 rebounds; Griffin pulled down seven rebounds; Ami Carver had six boards off the bench).

“Ashten did a tremendous job, her best game,” Royalettes coach Bimbo Pinkham said. “She’s been sick for about two, three weeks. She’s looking a lot better now.”

Smith kept it close for the Royalettes with a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Pinkham was pleased with his team’s defensive effort, but Jonesport-Beals has been struggling with offense. The Royalettes shot 17-for-57 from the field (Shead didn’t fare much better at 20-for-56).

“Our biggest problem is we haven’t been able to put the ball in the hoop the last three games,” said Pinkham, who has a number of girls on the team dealing with illnesses. “Defensively we’ve done OK. [Look] did a tremendous job on Davis in the beginning, but she got tired. … If we can regroup and get over this mess, hopefully by tournament time we should look better.”

TIGERETTES 45, ROYALETTES 41

Shead (7-2) 45 Jonesport-Beals (5-5) 41

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bowen 0 1 0 0 0 Pinkham 0 5 0

Preston 1 2 0 0 2 Woodward 1 3

Davis 8 21 0 0 17 Griffin 3 15 6

Beaulieu 9 18 2 5 20 Look 3 10 6

A.Mitchell 1 5 0 0 2 Emerson 0 0 0

N.Bouchard 1 4 2 4 4 Smith 5 10 16

Lingley 0 5 0 3 0 Chandler 2 4

Carver 3 9 0 6

Totals 20 56 4 12 45 17 57 10 41

Shead 12 16 31 45

Jonesport-Beals 6 14 24 41

3-pt. goals ? Shead (1-2): Davis 1-2; Jonesport-Beals (0-2): Pinkham 0-2

Attendance: 125 (est.)

Preliminary: Shead JVs 42-40