Red Devils cruise past Patriots Central wins opener as Rollins scores 23

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CORINTH – Bangor Christian girls basketball coach Dan Frazell could only shrug his shoulders and think positively after what he had just seen on the Central High court Friday night.

The Patriots are in a rebuilding era. The Red Devils? They could well end up in the Eastern Maine Class C championship game later this season.

“It’s a seasoned team meeting an unseasoned team,” Frazell said after the game. “We’ve got to build, and we’re going to build. We got outgunned, we got out-everythinged.”

Central’s tough man-to-man defense was too much for Class D Bangor Christian, and the Devils’ all-around effort from a variety of players boosted them to an 85-14 victory as high school teams in Classes B, C and D kicked off the high school season around the state.

Standout guard-forward Jenny Rollins opened her junior campaign with 23 points, including an 11-for-14 effort from the floor.

“We’re a little bit older now,” she said of the team’s effort in its first game. “We used to make excuses because we were young, but we’re older now. So no excuses.”

Rollins, the daughter of Central coach Diane Rollins, hit her first three shots en route to 10 points in the first quarter as the Red Devils rolled to a 24-0 lead.

Central played a full-court press early and forced 10 turnovers in the first quarter. Diane Rollins called off the press in the second period, but the Patriots turned the ball over 18 times in the first half, compared to four turnovers for Central.

“Our press forced a lot of turnovers,” Diane Rollins said. “[Bangor Christian is] young, so it forced them to make a lot of mistakes.”

The Red Devils considered their key matchup to be 5-foot-10 forward Caitlin Elliott on 6-foot forward Emily Jenkins, Bangor Christian’s most experienced player.

Jenkins struggled to get involved in the offense and got into foul trouble early.

“Caitlin did very well on her,” Jenny Rollins said of Elliott, who had 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds. “We thought [Jenkins] could do a lot more, but it really helped that we had big people, too, who could help out.”

Bangor Christian finally scored a field goal when Kaitlyn French put back an offensive rebound 22 seconds into the third quarter.

BC’s Jennifer Hutchins hit a 3-pointer with 5:40 left in the third, but Central responded with an 8-0 run.

“It didn’t help having Emily on the bench because she’s our big gun,” said Frazell, who is in his first year with the team. “But we’re not discouraged. We made mistakes, but we learned from them, and learning takes time.”

Central’s Shawna Bell added 13 points. Post players Jen Griffiths (5-9) and Theresa Libby (5-10) came off the bench to combine for 19 points and 10 rebounds. Casey Davis chipped in with eight points.

Central shot a stellar 36-for-61 (59 percent) from the field and had a 43-23 rebounding edge.

The Red Devils were especially sharp on the offensive boards in the second half with eight baskets off offensive rebounds.

RED DEVILS 85, PATRIOTS 14

Bangor Christian (0-1) Central (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Leathers 0 2 2 2 2 Collins 2 4 4

M. French 0 2 0 0 0 Davis 3 4 8

Mooers 1 2 0 0 2 Elliott 5 11 10

Wheaton 0 2 1 2 1 Jones 2 4 4

Hutchins 1 7 0 0 3 Rollins 11 14 23

Thibodeau 0 3 0 0 0 Underhill 1 4

Ricci 1 6 0 1 2 Daniel 0 3 0

Spaulding 0 4 0 0 0 Bell 3 3 13

Jenkins 0 1 0 2 0 Long 0 1 0

C. French 2 9 0 0 4 Griffiths 4 9

Holmes 0 0 0 0 0 Libby 5 10 10

Bane 0 2 0 0 0

Totals 5 40 3 7 14 36 61 11 20 85

Bangor Christian 0 3 10 14

Central 24 44 69 85

3-pt. goals ? Bangor Christian (1-7): Hutchins 1-5, Bane 0-1, Wheaton 0-1; Central (2-2): Bell 1-1, Davis 1-1

Attendance: 300 (est.)

Preliminary: Central 43-11