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LINCOLN – If the Mattanawcook and Old Town girls basketball teams were both looking for good midseason tests, they both found Friday night.
The Lynx pulled away late in the third quarter and used good free-throw shooting in the fourth for a hard-fought 58-45 victory over the Coyotes at the high school gym.
Both teams knew the importance of the Big East Conference matchup, as Mattanawcook was trying to run its record to 8-0 while Old Town was seeking its eighth win against three losses.
“This was a big game for both teams,” Mattanawcook coach Brian McDormand said. “These guys were great tonight. We had trouble putting [Old Town] away. They kept scrapping and fighting.”
The Lynx got the usual big effort from senior captains Brianna Hanscom (game-high 20 points) and Michelle Paul (14 points). It was another senior, however, who came through when the Lynx needed a spark.
Kristy Burleigh, a 5-foot-9 backup post player, scored 10 points, all in the second half. Six of those came in a key stretch late in the third quarter.
Old Town had cut the lead to 37-34 on a Jenna King 3-pointer, but Burleigh hit two free throws and then put back an offensive rebound. After the Coyotes responded with an Allison Brown basket, Burleigh scored again when Brooke Hanscom drove inside, pulling the defense with her to the left block, and passed the ball to an open Burleigh on the right side for a layup with about eight seconds left in the third. That made it 43-36.
“We were starting to box out more and our defense stepped it up,” Burleigh said. “I think [Old Town] lost their groove a little bit. When they double-team [Brianna Hanscom] you know the other side will be open so you just have to get ready for the rebound.”
Burleigh was critical as McDormand wasn’t happy with MA’s press.
“It didn’t seem like we were as intense in some spots and Old Town was tough, beating us back on our press,” McDormand said. “But we usually find something to that can put us in a position to win, and we did tonight. Kristy was big for us.”
Brianna Hanscom opened the fourth with a 6-for-6 effort from the free-throw line for a 13-point lead. Burleigh accounted for MA’s final field goal of the game when the Lynx went into their spread offense, passing the ball around until Burleigh got open inside for the shot.
“We played with them for three quarters,” Old Town coach Alan Brownewell said. “I don’t know what it was, if we got tired, but we didn’t play great defense in the fourth quarter.”
Brianna Hanscom started with eight first-quarter points, but once Old Town’s Cally Randall switched to cover the MA standout, the looks to the basket were tougher for Hanscom.
“Cally did well on her, I thought,” Brownewell said. “There were a couple of times when we didn’t cover the other guy. We were helping and nobody rotated down to take the open person. A couple of those hurt.”
The smaller Coyotes had a 17-12 rebounding advantage in the first half, but MA ended up with a 33-29 edge overall. Brianna Hanscom had 12 rebounds, Paul had eight and Burleigh had seven.
Randall led Old Town with 17 points and eight rebounds, and King added 15 points. King was 4-for-7 from 3-point range and Randall hit eight of her 15 field-goal attempts, but Old Town was 17-for-57 (29.8 percent) overall.
“We practiced a new zone defense, a 1-2-2,” Paul said. “We didn’t use it too much tonight, but when we did it worked pretty well. We knew who their shooters were.”
jbloch@bangordailynews.net
990-8193
LYNX 58, COYOTES 45
Old Town (7-4) Mattanawcook (8-0)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
St. Louis 0 2 0 0 0 Piche 0 1 0
Guay 0 0 0 0 0 M. Paul 3 11 6 14
Randall 8 15 1 5 17 Bri.Hnsm 7 20
Wilcox 1 9 5 7 7 Bro.Hnsm 2 5
Goodwin 1 7 0 0 2 Nicastro 1 2
Brown 1 3 0 0 2 Libbey 0 0 0
King 5 10 1 2 15 DeRaps 3 7 1 7
Taylor 1 11 0 0 2 Anderson 0 0
Hawkins 0 1 0 0
Burleigh 4 4 10
Totals 17 57 7 14 45 Totals 20 44 15 20 58
Old Town 12 25 36 45
Mattanawcook 13 30 43 58
3-pt. goals – Old Town (4-11): King 4-7, Goodwin 0-1, Wilcox 0-3; Mattanawcook (3-14): M. Paul 2-4, Bro. Hanscom 1-7, DeRaps 0-3
JV: Mattanawcook 57-29
Attendance: 300 (est.)
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