CORINTH – Looking for a spark in the fourth quarter after letting Central back into the game, the Stearns of Millinocket girls basketball team turned to Amy Collinsworth Thursday night.

She responded with 13 points in a fourth quarter run as the undefeated Minutemen held off the Red Devils 60-46.

Collinsworth finished with a team-high 15 points for Stearns, which is now 4-0 and logged its second straight point-worthy win after beating Class B Mattanawcook of Lincoln last week.

Central coach Diane Rollins said the 3-1 Devils had practiced for Collinsworth with the idea of having defensive-minded senior Tracy Underhill guarding the Stearns junior.

But Underhill sprained her ankle a few days ago, so Rollins had to change the defensive assignments.

“If I need to shut down somebody it’s usually going to be with Traci, but she just couldn’t. She wasn’t 100 percent,” Rollins said.

The Minutemen had a four-point lead at the start of the fourth after rallying from behind midway through the third. Collinsworth opened the fourth quarter with a basket off a steal, and 15 seconds later she hit a jumper for an eight-point lead.

Stearns’ Deanna Michaud (11 points, 11 rebounds) followed with two free throws, and Collinsworth made another jump shot, then a 3-pointer, and another jumper for 11 points in about four minutes – and more importantly, a 54-40 lead.

Collinsworth admitted it took her some time to find her shot, but once she started making baskets Central was unable to respond.

“I wasn’t making them at first and it took me a while to warm up,” she said. “But [teammate Angela MacDonald] told me she’d give me the ball if I was open, and I was open.”

Central post players Teresa Libby (6-foot-1) and Caitlin Elliot (6-0) double-teamed MacDonald (6-0) often, which left Stearns players open on the perimeter.

The Red Devils found a spark of their own in Mackie Davis, who came off the bench at the start of the game. She hit two third-quarter 3-pointers, including one with 2:49 left that tied the game at 32-32. Elliott drained two free throws 22 seconds later for the Devils’ only lead of the game.

Dayna Somers of Stearns responded with a 3-pointer and the Minutemen went ahead for good.

“We took a lot of shots but they weren’t falling,” said Stearns point guard Hilary Arsenault, who started despite laryngitis and a potential case of the flu. “At halftime coach told us to keep shooting and we did. Amy did a great job.”

Central started the game in a 1-3-1 zone. Even though the Minutemen struggled to make outside shots, Stearns found the MacDonald inside for three baskets and an 11-4 lead.

The Minutemen increased the lead to 16-7 early in the second when Arsenault hit a 3-pointer, but Central scored nine unanswered points, sparked by a Davis 3-pointer. Libby made a free throw three minutes before halftime to tie it at 16-16.

“We started out bad, we couldn’t take care of the ball, but we came back,” Rollins said. “But they had that [fourth quarter] run and we just looked tired.”

The Devils switched to man-to-man defense late in the quarter.

MacDonald chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

MINUTEMEN 60, RED DEVILS 46

Stearns (4-0) Central (3-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Curtis 0 2 0 0 0 Collins 3 7 6

Michaud 4 11 3 5 11 Davis 3 10 9

Hale 2 2 0 0 4 Elliott 6 19 4 16

Collinswrth 6 14 2 2 15 Brownell 0 0

Arsenault 2 9 5 12 10 Underhill 1 3

Freeman 0 0 2 2 2 Morin 1 2 2

Achorn 0 3 0 0 0 Gray 0 0 0

Somers 1 7 3 4 6 Voisine 1 2 2

MacDonld 5 15 2 2 12 LeBlanc 1 3 3

Melton 1 1 0 2

Libby 1 6 1 3

Totals 20 63 17 27 60 Totals 18 55 14 46

Stearns 11 20 41 60

Central 4 18 37 46

3-pt. goals – Stearns (3-12): Somers 1-2, Collinsworth 1-2, Arsenault 1-4, Curtis 0-2, Achorn 0-2; Central (3-7): Davis 3-6, Elliott 0-1

JV: Stearns 55-18

Attendance: 300 (est.)