NEWPORT – Eight ties, 14 lead changes, big shots, steals and rebounds, clutch free-throw shooting, dueling 3-pointers – for a crowd of about 800 at the gym here, Tuesday’s Nokomis-Mount Desert Island girls basketball game was high school hoops at its best.

But in the fourth quarter the Warriors made a few more big plays than the Trojans, including a huge Michelle Murray 3-pointer, and held the previously undefeated Trojans scoreless for the final 21/2 minutes en route to a 56-50 victory.

Nokomis fell to MDI in the first game of its season.

“I don’t think any of us have stopped thinking about this game since we lost to them,” said Nokomis forward Sara Lowe, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

There were many big moments for the 7-1 Warriors as they rallied in the fourth quarter – so what did the Nokomis girls feel actually sealed the win over MDI (10-1)?

For Murray, who scored a team-high 15 points, it wasn’t the 3-pointer she hit with 2:16 left that gave the Warriors a 51-50 edge and the lead for good. For Lowe, who took over for Nokomis in the first half, it wasn’t the rebound she grabbed off a missed MDI 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining.

For Murray and Lowe, the two steals Gillian Snow lodged in the final two minutes made a huge difference. Her first came with 1:55 left, seconds after Murray’s 3-pointer. Kara Horton of MDI was called for an intentional foul on the ensuing Nokomis possession and Warrior Lindsey Welch made one of two free throws for a two-point lead.

“[Snow] had two steals right when we needed her to have them,” Murray said. “That’s the thing that sticks out in my head.”

Another key decision was Nokomis’ move to a 1-3-1 zone defense. The Warriors rarely play anything but man-to-man, but with foul trouble and MDI’s Barcey Barker making big shots of her own, Nokomis coach Earl Anderson made the change with about 2:12 left in the third. Barker scored just one more basket from that point.

“We really only gave up one [3-pointer] that we didn’t get to the shooter, but other than that we did a good job with it,” Anderson said.

The game was a matchup of two of the state’s top players with Barker headed to UMaine next year and Danielle Clark of Nokomis going to New Hampshire. Barker had the more impressive statistical game with 23 points and nine rebounds.

The 6-foot-1 point guard scored 10 points during a third quarter in which there were four ties and five lead changes. Abby Willson and Jenna Gordius made consecutive baskets at the end of the third to give the Trojans a 39-36 lead going into the fourth.

Clark, a 6-foot forward, got into foul trouble but managed 13 points, including a 3-pointer at the end of the first half that gave the Warriors a 27-25 halftime lead. She hit two free throws in the final minute and grabbed a key rebound off a missed Nokomis free throw that kept the ball at the Warriors’ end.

MDI standout guard Shelley Gott picked up three fouls in the first quarter and sat for the rest of the half and was held scoreless in the game, but Jessica Norwood went 4-for-6 from 3-point range for 12 points, including two huge 3-pointers at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“We had some kids out of position up front in the [2-3] zone and we gave them way too many easy shots,” MDI coach Burt Barker said. “I thought Nokomis hit big shots when they had to in the late going. … We didn’t show some composure late and they did. We had some kids who didn’t have good games, but Jessica Norwood had another good game, Bracey had an outstanding game.”

WARRIORS 56, TROJANS 50

MDI (10-1) Nokomis (7-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Stanley 0 0 0 0 0 Welch 1 5 9

Gordius 4 8 0 0 8 Murray 5 10 15

McGarr 0 0 0 0 0 Barden 1 1 3

Horton 2 4 0 2 4 Snow 1 6 2

Willson 1 1 1 2 3 Paradis 1 1 2

Gott 0 5 0 0 0 Merrow 0 0 0 0

Barker 8 17 6 7 23 Lowe 5 8 12

Young 0 0 0 0 0 Clark 5 15 13

Norwood 4 7 0 0 12

Totals 19 42 7 11 50 19 46 12 19 56

Mount Desert Island 13 25 39 50

Nokomis 13 27 36 56

3-pt. goals: MDI (5-13): Norwood 4-6, Barker 1-4, Gott 0-3 ; Nokomis (6-16): Murray 4-6, Clark 1-3, Welch 1-5, Snow 0-2

Attendance: 800 (est.)

Preliminary: Nokomis 34-33