MILLINOCKET – Off the court, the girls on the Stearns and Schenck basketball teams know each other pretty well – that’s what happens when you grow up just a few miles apart. But on the court, it’s all business, and when the Minutemen found themselves with a slim lead at halftime of Friday night’s Penobscot Valley Conference Class C matchup here, they knew what they had to do despite playing against friends.

Stearns forced 15 third-quarter turnovers thanks to an intense full-court press. With that came improved shooting and a 55-32 victory over the rival Wolverines of East Millinocket at Wentworth Gym.

“It’s hard because we’re friends with a lot of them,” said Stearns senior Leslie Osborne. “You get on the court and it’s different because we’ve always been rivals. But we have to keep up the Stearns name.”

Throwing on a pressing defense and getting away from relying on a half-court offense was a good decision for Stearns (3-0) considering Schenck has a lot of inexperience at the guard positions and the Wolverines (0-3) had dominated inside early.

Stearns went on an 11-2 run in the first two minutes of the third quarter, capped by a Trisha MacDonald 3-pointer, before Schenck coach Robert Marquis called a timeout. After the girls got back on the floor MacDonald drained a jumper, then put back an offensive rebound, and Osborne had another put back – six unanswered points for a 34-15 lead.

“We have a lot of young players and we’re not experienced at handling the ball,” Marquis said. “We’re getting a lot better. It might not show all the time but we’re learning different ways to break the press. We’re gonna face pressure all year.”

Schenck’s Rachel Larlee ended the run with a basket off a rebound, but Janessa Nason regained the momentum for the Minutemen when she knocked down a 3-pointer.

Stearns hadn’t shot that well to that point – the Minutemen were 6-for-30 in the first half – and wouldn’t again, but 20 points in a span of about four minutes was the key.

“We looked at the scoreboard at one point and it was a four-point game, then we look and it’s a 15-point game,” MacDonald said.

Osborne and MacDonald were a combined 8-for-13 in the period and scored 15 of Stearns’ 22 points in the third. Osborne finished with a game-high 19 points, while MacDonald scored 18.

Schenck junior Katie Bishop started out guarding MacDonald, and after she got into foul trouble Ashley Gleason entered the game. Gleason has been having foot trouble this year, Marquis said, but the two juniors still held MacDonald to 1-for-8 shooting in the first half.

“They were pressuring us a lot, in our faces, and we’re not really used to that,” MacDonald said.

Larlee and Osborne had 11 rebounds apiece for their respective teams. MacDonald added nine and Jesse Hanington came off the bench to grab eight boards, including five in the second quarter as Schenck kept it a close game.

“We needed to box out a lot,” Osborne said. “Schenck was getting a lot of the second shots so we really needed to key on that.”

Megan Carey led the Wolverines with eight points.

MINUTEMEN 55, WOLVERINES 32

Schenck (0-3) Stearns (3-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Nicholson 0 0 2 4 2 T.MacDnald 7 19 3 5 18

Bishop 1 1 0 0 2 Nason 2 7 5

Gleason 0 0 0 0 0 Hale 2 6 5

MacLeod 1 3 0 2 2 Leet 0 0 0

Jamo 0 0 0 0 0 Arsenault 2 9 4

Carey 4 8 0 1 8 Osborne 8 20 19

Hanington 3 9 0 2 6 Somers 0 8 2

Peabody 2 7 2 4 6 J. Michaud 1 2

Sprague 0 0 0 0 0 A.MacDnald 0 0

Pray 0 0 0 0 0 O’Connell 0 0 0

Larlee 2 5 2 2 6

Totals 13 33 6 15 32 Totals 22 75 13 55

Schenck 7 13 21 32

Stearns 10 17 39 55

3-pt. goals ? Schenck (0-0); Stearns (2-11): Nason 1-2, T. MacDonald 1-3, Arsenault 0-3, Somers 0-3

Attendance: 300 (est.)

JV: Stearns 40-32