Ames lifts Dexter past Red Devils Center nets 24, grabs 16 rebounds

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CORINTH – The Central High pep band was arranged in its regular seating area of the bleachers in the high school gym here for Friday night’s girls basketball game when word came down it would have to move to the stage to make room for more fans.

That’s a Central-Dexter matchup for you. More than 600 people packed the bleachers to see the Red Devils and the Tigers – ranked first and third, respectively, in Eastern Maine Class C – clash for the second time this season.

There was a lot of noise, but there wasn’t a lot of drama. Dexter rolled out to an early lead and got 24 points from Ashley Ames en route to a 72-35 victory.

“We had to stay calm, not get flustered by all the noise here,” said Ames, who had 16 rebounds for the 10-0 defending regional champions. “In the beginning you would have thought it was the state game coming out here.”

Central, whose only losses this season are to the Tigers, is now 8-2.

The Red Devils tried a triangle-and-2 defense with 5-10 forwards Teresa Libby and Caitlin Elliott guarding Ames. That helped hold the 6-foot-4 center to one field goal in the first quarter, but left forward Kerianne Patterson open. Patterson responded with two long jump shots. Ames’ sister Mallory, a 6-6 freshman, scored six of her 12 points in the first quarter.

“We tried to take Ashley out of the game, leave [Patterson] to help on defense,” Central coach Diane Rollins said. “First Kerianne wasn’t making them and then she started to make them. We just didn’t get it done. It wasn’t a good night.”

The Red Devils were forced into man, and Ashley Ames was 11-for-15 in the three remaining quarters.

Dexter had a comfortable 32-18 halftime lead but really put it away in the third quarter. Point guard Brittany Veazie assisted on the first two baskets of the quarter, scored another, and after Libby put back a rebound, Veazie hit a driving jump shot. Mallory Ames then scored twice, and the Tigers had a 44-20 lead.

Veazie’s first assist of the period went to Ashley Ames just eight seconds after play started.

“That’s our biggest problem, sometimes we come out flat in the third quarter,” Ames said. “We knew we had to come out with intensity.”

Veazie went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the second half and finished with 13 points and six assists. Patterson had nine points and six assists.

Central had a 5-4 lead in the first quarter but the Tigers closed out the quarter with a 10-0 run.

Central’s leading scorer, junior Jenny Rollins, struggled from the floor. Cote guarded Rollins in the Tigers’ traditional man-to-man defense and held her to three field goals on 3-for-16 shooting.

“[Coach Margaret Veazie] said get in her face when she tries to shoot the jumper, don’t foul, try to force her to go left,” said Cote, who is good friends with Rollins off the court. “I let her go right way too much [in the teams’ first game]. She’s a great player. There’s no stopping her.”

But it wasn’t just Rollins. Overall the Red Devils made just 12 of their 51 field-goal attempts.

Central’s Caitlin Elliott finished with a team-high six rebounds. Rollins and Teresa Libby each added five.

Both coaches kept her starters in for much of the fourth quarter.

TIGERS 72, RED DEVILS 35

Dexter (10-0) Central (8-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

M. Ames 6 9 0 1 12 Collins 0 2 1

Veazie 2 7 9 10 13 Davis 2 11 5

Chapman 0 0 0 0 0 Elliott 3 7 6

Mountain 0 0 0 0 0 Rollins 3 16 11

Burton 0 0 0 0 0 Underhill 0 2

Fogarty 3 4 1 2 7 Daniel 1 1 3

Cote 3 6 1 2 7 Bell 2 6 0 5

Hartford 0 0 0 0 0 Griffiths 0 0

Alton 0 0 0 0 0 Libby 1 5 2

Patterson 4 10 1 2 9

A. Ames 12 17 0 1 24

Totals 30 53 12 18 72 12 51 17 35

Dexter 14 32 58 72

Central 5 18 28 35

3-pt. goals ? Dexter (0-1): Veazie 0-1; Central (3-12): Daniel 1-1, Bell 1-3, Rollins 1-4, Davis 0-4

Attendance: 600 (est.)

JV: Dexter 50-32