Dragons heat quickly, sink ‘Dogs Smith, Leeman set pace

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WOODLAND – For some reason this season, the Woodland girls basketball team has started some of its games slowly, taking time to warm up.

Despite having a relatively long layoff because of midterm exams, the Dragons got off to a fast start Monday night in an Eastern Maine Class D game against Machias.

Woodland, the two-time defending Class D state champion, used an 8-0 run in the first quarter and a 12-0 run in the second to roll to a 59-38 victory over the Bulldogs at the high school gym.

The Dragons got 18 points from forward Katie Smith and 15 points from point guard Kaitlyn Leeman and another 20 from their substitutes in the win, which lifted Woodland to 11-4. Machias fell to 2-12.

“We just got done with midterms and we haven’t really played in about a week,” Smith said. “We definitely play in spurts. We come out kind of slow.”

“But we started out fast tonight,” Leeman chimed in. “We came out strong for once.”

Woodland used a variety of zone defenses to limit the Bulldogs to 13-for-38 shooting from the floor and to force 20 steals in the first half. Leeman, who finished with six steals, alone forced three turnovers that resulted in baskets during the early 8-0 run.

“We started out in a 1-3-1 half-court … it’s something to give people a different look,” Woodland coach Arnold Clark said. “We can put some pressure on them and trap them.”

The Dragons had a 9-5 lead when Leeman stole the ball in the backcourt and got it to Smith, who scored to make it 11-5. After Michelle Ferry scored off a Smith pass, Leeman put in two baskets in a row off Machias turnovers. The entire eight-point run happened in a little more than a minute.

“The only difference between Woodland and most of the other teams is that when we make a mistake, more often than not it’s two points [for] them,” Machias coach Jon Berry said. “When we make a mistake against a lot of the other teams, it’s either a turnover on the other side or a missed shot and it doesn’t hurt us as much. Our spurts are four points, their spurts are 10. … But I was pleased with our composure at times.”

Eileen Alley hit a jumper for the Bulldogs, but Woodland’s Kati Holmes put back a rebound with less than 10 seconds left in the quarter for a 19-7 lead.

Five different players scored during Woodland’s 12-point string in the second quarter. Machias scored four points in the period.

The Bulldogs outscored the Dragons 16-10 in the fourth quarter as Clark went to his bench. Freshman Alley put in nine of her team-high 12 points in the second half and classmate Christiannah Holmes had six points in the second half. She also finished with a game-high eight rebounds despite early foul trouble.

DRAGONS 59, BULLDOGS 38

Machias (2-12) Woodland (11-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

St. Pierre 2 9 3 6 7 Brown 0 1 0

Hayward 1 2 0 0 2 Gillespie 0 0

Rudd 1 5 0 0 2 Snowman 1 4 1 3

Whitney 2 3 2 5 7 Leeman 7 12 15

Whitman 0 1 0 0 0 Smith 8 14 18

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 Ferry 1 6 2

Marshall 1 1 0 0 2 Lord 1 2 4

Alley 3 6 6 8 12 Holmes 1 4 3

Stevens 0 1 0 0 0 Troiani 1 1 2

Holmes 3 10 0 0 6 Knights 1 6 2

Albee 0 0 0 0 0 Seavey 4 10 8

Vose 0 2 2 2

Totals 13 38 11 19 38 25 63 11 59

Machias 7 11 22 38

Woodland 19 31 49 59

3-pt. goals: Machias (1-2): Whitney 1-1, Whitman 0-1; Woodland (0-2): Brown 0-1, Leeman 0-1

Attendance: 300 (est.)

Preliminary: Woodland JVs 63-17