LEE – The Lee Academy girls basketball team has a variety of weapons. Tuesday night, it came down to the play of freshman guard Aarika Ritchie and senior forward Shelby Pickering.

Tough defense and sharp shooting from Ritchie and Pickering – not to mention junior Katie Harris – in the first quarter helped the defending Eastern Maine Class D champs earn a 66-42 victory over Mattanawcook of Lincoln at Mallett Gymnasium.

Lee goes to 4-0, while MA falls to 2-2 after the first matchup of the traditional and friendly rivalry this season.

“It’s a big thing, Howland, Lincoln, Lee, whenever they play each other it gives them bragging rights for the next nine months time,” said Lee coach Ron Weatherbee, who has coached at both Lee and Mattanawcook.

The Pandas rolled in the first quarter, outscoring the Lynx 16-4 at one point and taking a 22-11 lead into the second period. Pickering had six of her 18 points and Harris had six of her 10 in the first.

But it was Ritchie, one of three freshman who started Tuesday, who made a huge difference early as Lee forced six first-quarter turnovers in its full-court, man-to-man defense. Ritchie converted on two turnovers, including one for a conventional 3-point play.

“We wanted to come out intense on defense, force some turnovers, try to get a lead early,” said Ritchie, who had a game-high 19 points. “We tried to push the ball, get out on the fast break.”

And that’s what hurt the Lynx, coach Terri Thornton said.

“Turnovers just killed us, and not getting back on their transition,” she said. “We’d shoot a [3-pointer], they’re going to go back on transition and we didn’t do that well. We were flat-footed, we didn’t move correctly and we just kind of let down on what we needed to do.”

The Pandas went inside early and often, which translated into a 10-for-14 shooting effort in the first half. They made 25 of their 45 field goal attempts in the game for a 55.5 percent shooting average. Harris, Pickering and Ritchie were a combined 20-for-29.

Although the Pandas weren’t able to touch their 22 first-quarter points again, they still managed to score in big spurts. Lee had a 10-point lead which it increased to 20 points in a two-minute, second-quarter run that was sparked by a Ritchie layup off a pass from fellow freshman Amanda Gifford.

Lee displayed fine scoring balance, which has been a hallmark of the team so far this season. Harris, Pickering and Ritchie led the Pandas, but Dana Houghton came off the bench to add seven points and freshman starter Karin Bird had six. Houghton had seven rebounds and Bird added six.

Weatherbee started his team off in man-to-man defense, although he was unsure about the best matchups because the Lynx have had several different players, including Shannon Pietras, Quinci Sanderson and Michelle Paul, with big games so far this season.

“We were thinking we had to guard all three of them, and some of them shoot well from the perimeter, so we thought we’d come out man-to-man and go from there,” Weatherbee said. “Full court took a toll on them and the fact that we do play decent man-to-man defense.”

Pietras finished with 10 points and freshman center Bree Hanscom, who was guarded by Pickering most of the game, scored 11.

PANDAS 66, LYNX 42

Mattanawcook (2-2) Lee (4-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Pietras 4 9 2 4 10 B. Harris 0 1

Paul 2 4 0 0 4 J. Moors 0 0 0

Cousineau 1 2 0 0 3 Pickering 9 11 0 1 18

Vose 1 5 0 0 2 Bird 2 4 2 6

Gulesian 1 3 0 0 2 Gifford 1 5 2

Libby 1 4 1 1 3 M. Moors 0 0

Souers 1 7 0 1 2 Ritchie 6 11 19

Hanington 0 1 0 2 0 Jandreau 0 3

Sanderson 1 4 1 2 3 K. Harris 5 10

Shorey 0 1 0 0 0 Houghton 2 7

Thornton 0 0 0 0 0

Martin 1 1 0 0 2

Hanscom 5 12 1 1 11

Totals 18 53 5 11 42 25 45 15 23 66

Mattanawcook 11 19 34 42

Lee 22 35 50 66

3-pt. goals – Mattanawcook (1-6): Cousineau 1-1, Pietras 0-1, Vose 0-1, Sanderson 0-1, Paul 0-2; Lee (1-2): Ritchie 1-2

JV: Lee 45-30

Attendance: 700 (est.)