Lynx girls know sweep of Stearns will be tough

In the past week both the Stearns and Mattanawcook girls basketball teams have logged a big win each, and that makes Thursday’s matchup between the two Eastern Maine Class C squads meaningful in terms of Heal points.

The Minutemen of Millinocket will head to Lincoln for a 7 p.m. contest against the Lynx.

“This is a huge game for us,” Mattanawcook coach Terri Thornton said. “It’s a rivalry, but it’s a good rivalry. They’re going to come in here wanting the points, too.”

MA topped Stearns 52-44 in a Dec. 19 game, but since then the Minutemen have gone 6-2, including a victory over Class B Houlton. Stearns is ranked sixth in the most recent Heal Point standings.

Mattanawcook picked up a huge win of its own Tuesday, beating top-ranked Class D team Woodland, and is now 7-3, after Wednesday’s win over Piscataquis of Guilford. The Lynx were eighth in the Heal standings.

The key to Mattanawcook’s earlier win over Stearns, Thornton said, was breaking the tough Minuteman press and playing man-to-man defense, which kept the Minutemen from scoring too much inside.

“I think that was our best game so far,” she said. “Our defensive intensity was very strong and we’ll need to do that again.”