NEWPORT – The Nokomis girls basketball team has been looking for something to build on this season.

Although neither the Warriors nor the Brewer Witches, visiting the high school gym for a Thursday night Big East Conference matchup, will likely be happy with its effort on offense, Nokomis can at least look to its man-to-man defense in the 34-19 victory.

The Warriors, now 4-5, held the 2-7 Witches to just five field goals and 26 attempts.

“I think out defense sparked our offense,” Nokomis’ Aimee Paradis said. “When we get intense on defense, we move more on offense. … This is just what we’ve needed to boost our confidence. We’re back on track.”

Nokomis had a few key defensive matchups in mind. Michelle Barden guarded Amy Freeman, who is one of Brewer’s top shooting threats.

“I don’t try to get up on her because I know she can beat me and take the shot off the dribble,” Barden said. “I tried to stay back a little.”

Rozlyn Peterson guarded Katie Quimby, who has also been one of Brewer’s scorers.

The Witches had 14 turnovers to six for the Warriors.

Brewer played solid defense, too. The Warriors were 11-for-35 from the floor and Bragdon had a game-high 10 points, followed by seven each from Barden and Peterson.

But Nokomis took command during an 8-0 run in the second quarter. Brewer had just tied the game at 6-6 when Barden hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to gain the advantage for good. After a Brewer turnover, Paradis put back an offensive rebound – one of the few offensive rebounds in the game, Alyssa Bragdon made two free throws and finished the stretch with a 3-pointer from the left side.

“In the huddle after the first quarter we decided we weren’t setting enough backscreens,” Bragdon said. “That’s how we got our open looks.”

Freeman, who had eight points for Brewer, connected on a 17-footer to break up the run, but by then Nokomis had a 16-8 lead.

The Witches threatened in the fourth quarter, whittling the lead to eight points with about two minutes left, but Peterson made a 3-pointer and Barden made four free throws in the final minute.

“We do a good job defensively, we just couldn’t throw it into the ocean,” Brewer coach Mark Savage said. “It’s frustrating because we had some good looks at times.”

The Warriors outrebounded the Witches 25-24. Ashley Bragdon, Alyssa Bragdon’s twin sister, led Nokomis with six.

Kim Alberding paced Brewer with six rebounds and Quimby (eight points) followed with five.

WARRIORS 34, WITCHES 19

Brewer (2-7) Nokomis (4-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Quimby 1 8 6 8 8 Carter 0 0 0

Baker 0 0 0 0 0 Fournier 0 0

Cote 1 6 0 0 2 Barden 1 9 4 7

Corey 0 1 1 2 1 Peterson 3 7

Chapman 0 0 0 0 0 Gonzalez 0 0

Freeman 3 8 2 4 8 Al. Bragdn 3 10

Alberding 0 1 0 2 0 Paradis 3 8 6

McLain 0 2 0 0 0 Cooper 0 0 0

As. Bragdn 1 3 4

Welch 0 1 0 0

Totals 5 26 9 16 19 11 35 13 34

Brewer 4 10 13 19

Nokomis 4 18 21 34

3-pt. goals ? Brewer (0-3): Quimby 0-2, Freeman 0-1; Nokomis (3-11): Peterson 1-1, Al. Bragdon 1-3, Barden 1-5, Paradis 0-2

Attendance: 200 (est.)

JV: Nokomis 43-41