Madison Legassey knocked down the winning 3-pointer and Maine Girls’ Academy came back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Deering 43-40 in a Class AA girls’ basketball game Friday night.

Deering (8-6) had the ball with the scored tied at 38-38 and less than 40 seconds remaining, but Catherine Reid stole the ball and went in alone for a layup that gave MGA (6-8) its first lead since early in the second quarter.

Deering’s Tasia Titherington drew a foul with 30 seconds left and hit both free throws to tie the game. But Legassey buried a shot from the left corner with 14 seconds remaining to give the Lions a three-point lead and sending the fans into a frenzy.

“(Before the possession), I told no one to shoot 3s. I wanted to get a layup, a smart shot. Then I was open and shot (a 3) and while I was shooting it, I was like, ‘no, I shouldn’t shoot a 3,’ ” said Legassey. “But then it went in and I was like, ‘OK.’ ”

Legassey scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers, including three in the second half.

“I give Madison a lot of credit. I was on her at halftime for doing certain things and instead of moping she decided to toughen up and she produced. She showed a lot of mental toughness today,” said MGA Coach Bill Goodman. “I’m proud of her.”

Titherington had a good look at a 3-pointer in the last five seconds but couldn’t get the shot to fall.

It’s been a tough season for the Lions, who lost all five starters from a team that went 16-3 last winter when it was known as McAuley.

“No one thinks we should beat anyone, but when we come back and beat teams like (Deering), it proves everyone wrong,” said Legassey.

Trailing 12-9, Deering began the second quarter with a 9-0 run to gain control.

The Rams went into halftime with a 22-14 lead and started the third quarter with a 12-4 surge to expand their lead to 16 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.

“We’ve been struggling all year on offense. My girls have heart, they hustle, but offensively, shots don’t always go in for us. We just have to keep fighting for everything we get,” said Goodman.

After a couple scoreless minutes from both sides, MGA got its offense untracked.

“Sometimes we get frazzled, (but) when we settle down and really play with our heads up, it makes it a lot easier to get shots up and play as a team. I think that’s what happened,” said Legassey.

Deering was hurt by 24 turnovers, 18 in the second half.

“Give credit to (MGA). They hustled and we didn’t take care of the ball. When you don’t take care of the ball, leads evaporate,” said Deering Coach Mike Murphy.

The Lions dialed up the intensity on their full-court press in the second half.

“(The press) definitely got us hyped up. We were feeling the energy from the bench and the crowd,” said Legassey.

Victoria Garand led Deering with 13 points.

Goodman noted that his team has shown an ability to overcome adversity.

“My girls just fight and fight; it’s awesome. I love coaching them. They never give up. We have five comeback victories this year,” said Goodman.

Copy the Story Link