ORONO – The Ellsworth girls basketball team’s offense took a while to get into gear Wednesday night against Orono.

So it’s a good thing the Eagles played tough man-to-man defense to back them up.

Holding the Red Riots to just two points in the third quarter, Ellsworth rebounded from a disappointing loss to Presque Isle on Saturday with a 49-25 victory over Orono at the high school gymnasium.

“The defense kind of carried us tonight,” Ellsworth coach Dana Smith said. “We didn’t allow any second-chance points and we didn’t have any silly fouls, just played good, solid ‘D’ and contested their shots.”

Ellsworth improved to 9-3, and the win was a boost after falling to the Wildcats 46-39.

“We were ready for this game,” said point guard Monique Boutaugh. “We needed this.”

Orono fell to 4-6.

The Eagles already had a 21-13 lead at halftime, and although they managed only two field goals in the third quarter, they held the Riots to just two free throws in the period.

The Eagles also drew six Orono fouls in the third quarter, setting themselves up to go 8-for-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

“We had to come out strong in the third quarter,” Ellsworth’s Darci Fortier said. “We had to give it our all.”

Ellsworth outscored Orono 18-10 in the fourth quarter thanks to 10 points from Ashley Oleson. The senior center went 3-for-3 from the floor and hit all three of her free-throw attempts, finishing with a game-high 15 points.

The Eagles were 16-for-20 from the line overall.

Oleson also guarded Orono forward Stacey Saucier, who is one of the Red Riots’ top scorers. Saucier finished with two points.

Ellsworth scored the first six points of the game and held Orono scoreless until Lauren Young put in a pass from Saucier with about 3:30 left in the first quarter.

Ellsworth’s Ginny Dalrymple opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and later hit two straight from almost the same spot on the floor to give the Eagles an 18-9 lead.

“She’s a very good shooter and we count on her to hit a couple a game,” Smith said. “She came out and gave us that little push into halftime. That was big.”

Dalrymple finished with 11 points – her offensive output was especially important as the Riots also played good man defense against Ellsworth’s flex offense in the first three quarters – and four other Eagles had at least five points.

Kati Glencross led the Red Riots with seven points.

Orono coach Tim Baude was pleased with the way his team ran its offense, but some missed shots shook up the Riots.

“We had a few layups that didn’t go, we didn’t get the ball in the post, and then it’s a confidence thing,” he said. “I think by slowing down, our whole mentality slowed down so that on the defensive end we didn’t do the things we normally do. It just kind of steamrolled.”

EAGLES 49, RED RIOTS 25

Ellsworth (9-3) Orono (4-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Dalrymple 3 4 2 2 11 Glencross 2 10 2 2 7

Boutaugh 1 6 2 2 5 Young 2 7 4

Archer 2 6 1 2 5 Artesani 2 6

Fortier 2 5 1 1 5 Colbath 2 4 4

Savage 0 4 6 8 6 Robertson 0 0

Silsby 0 2 0 0 0 Valdivia 0 0

McEachern 1 2 0 0 2 Sypher 0 3 2

Oleson 5 11 4 5 15 Woodbrey 0 0

Merchant 0 0 0 0 0 Saucier 1 12 2

Totals 14 40 16 20 49 Totals 9 42 10 25

Ellsworth 6 21 31 49

Orono 4 13 15 25

3-pt. goals – Ellsworth (5-12): Dalrymple 3-4, Boutaugh 1-4, Oleson 1-1, Archer 0-3; Orono (3-10): Artesani 2-2, Glencross 1-5, Colbath 0-1, Woodbrey 0-1, Saucier 0-1

JV: Orono 32-19

Attendance: 150 (est.)