CORINTH – It wasn’t exactly in the plan that Penquis of Milo point guard Megan Russell would pick up three fouls in the first quarter of Friday night’s season-opener against Central.

It certainly wasn’t in the plan that she would get her fourth in the second quarter, and foul out in the second half. Ditto for starting forward April Allen, another of the Patriots’ key players this year, who was gone by the third quarter.

No matter. The Penquis girls now know they can play – and win big – even with two of their starters on the bench.

The Patriots rolled to a 60-40 victory against the Class C Penobscot Valley Conference rival Red Devils at the high school gym here.

The Patriots now start the season with a 1-0 record, while the Red Devils are 0-1 under new coach Diane Rollins.

Despite her foul trouble Russell scored a game-high 24 points, including nine as she played with four fouls in the third quarter.

“I think it was because I was so anxious,” Russell said with a smile after the game. “First-game jitters.”

Lindsay Hamlin, who finished with 13 points, said the Patriots wanted to start tough against the Red Devils, and the quick fouls may have thrown off the team.

“I think Central is a stronger team this year, and we knew that so we came out hard,” said Hamlin, a starting guard. “… We kind of got frustrated with our fouls. I don’t think we were that nervous. I think we were more excited.”

The Patriots, who were a semifinal team in last season’s Eastern Maine Class C tournament, had a 15-point halftime lead and outscored the Red Devils 20-9 in the third quarter. Megan Russell sparked Penquis with a 3-pointer to open the period.

After a Central free throw, Hamlin scored off a pass from Russell and put in a free throw 20 seconds later. Allen banked in a shot to make it 40-18 with 5:59 left in the third.

“We knew we could settle down, slow it down and start to make good passes,” Russell said. “We knew we had it after the second half.”

Allen fouled out 16 seconds later. Russell picked up her fifth with 3:30 left in the game.

The Patriots came out in a full-court, man-to-man defense but switched to a 2-3 zone as their fouls started to pile up. Penquis was also hoping to pack it in against Crystal Parker, Central’s 6-foot-1 senior center. Parker finished with four points.

“We’re known for our defense but we’re not a very tall team, so we wanted to squeeze them inside,” Hamlin said.

With Russell and Allen on the bench and Penquis coach Wally Russell making regular substitutions, the Red Devils were able to outscore the Patriots 14-8 in the fourth quarter.

Still, Central’s turnovers and Penquis’ third-quarter push put the game out of reach.

“We turned it over foolishly,” Rollins said. “But I’ll tell you, I was very pleased. It wasn’t a bad game for such a young team. We made our own mental errors because we’re young and I know we’ll work through those.”

Central started three freshmen, including Jenny Rollins, who had 11 points. Junior Katie Ahearn led the Red Devils with 14 points.

Both teams looked rusty from the free-throw line, making a combined 28 of 61 shots.

PATRIOTS 60, RED DEVILS 40

Penquis (1-0) Central (0-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Russell 8 14 6 6 24 Collins 1 7 2

L. Hamlin 4 6 4 7 13 Davis 1 9 2

Dolley 0 0 0 0 0 Rollins 4 17 11

Allen 3 9 0 0 7 Daniel 1 3 5

B. Hamlin 0 0 0 0 0 Bell 0 0 0

E. Morrill 0 2 0 0 0 Ahearn 4 10 10 14

Gerrish 0 0 0 0 0 Lyford 0 3 2

Madden 3 6 0 4 6 Parker 1 2 4

K. Hamlin 0 1 2 4 2

Comeau 1 2 0 0 2

Cobb 0 2 0 4 0

J. Hamlin 3 8 0 3 6

Hussey 0 0 0 1 0

Totals 22 50 12 19 60 12 51 16 32 40

Penquis 13 32 52 60

Central 8 17 26 40

3-pt. goals: Penquis (4-6): Russell 2-4, L. Hamlin 1-1, Allen 1-1; Central (0-1): Rollins 0-1

Attendance: 200 (est.)

Preliminary: Penquis JVs 31-23