Bonny Eagle 49

Massabesic 45

Trailing by as much as 10 points in the third quarter, the Bonny Eagle girls’ basketball team rallied for a four-point win over Massabesic, 49-45, Tuesday in Waterboro. Meghan Ledoux led the way for the Scots with 14 points including eight in a row in the third to pull her team closer.

“Sometimes she can take over the game like that,” said Bonny Eagle coach Suzanne Rondeau. “Nothing fazes her; she just shoots the ball. She doesn’t think she just plays. And that helps us sometimes.”

The Scots needed to rally thanks to a great first half by the Mustangs.

Massabesic opened the game with a 4-0 run before Bonny Eagle scored six straight to take the lead. The Mustangs quickly regained the lead when Stacey Norton hit two free throws. They would keep their advantage until midway through the fourth.

The Mustangs were buoyed by their strong defense that forced the Scots into a number of errors and dropped passes.

“That’s our curse this season for some reason,” said Bonny Eagle captain Lyndie Libby. “I think being seniors we just want to do so well our senior year and we kind of press it instead of letting it happen like we always have. We need to go back to basics and play it simple and once we do that, I think we’ll be all right.”

After one quarter Massabesic held a three-point lead. In the second, they would add to it. Thanks to strong play by Georgia Boisse, the Mustangs stretched their lead to 10 points late in the half. She finished with nine points. Libby and Alyssa Severance each hit a three-pointer late in the second to stay close. At the break Massabesic’s lead was six points, 23-17.

“We were down and out having a hard time,” said Rondeau. “They were controlling the game because of the boards. They were killing us on the boards and killing us on defense.”

Things looked good for Massabesic early in the third quarter as they once again pulled out to a 10-point cushion. That was when Ledoux took over. She hadn’t scored since she hit a three-pointer in the first quarter, but she picked the right time to score again. She hit her second three of the night to make it a seven-point game. After a Bonny Eagle rebound she was set up again and hit another three to pull the Scots within four. She scored on a jumper the next time she touched the ball and Bonny Eagle was suddenly within two points.

“Finally in the end of the third quarter we started playing up to our potential defensively and boxing out,” said Rondeau. “We started playing calm. We had been pressing. That’s what we’ve been doing is pressing and trying to do too much instead of relaxing and playing our game.”

Massabesic staved off that rally and pulled out to a five-point lead again. After three quarters they were up 35-30.

Slowly and methodically, the Scots chipped into the Massabesic cushion in the fourth quarter until they finally took the lead with a Kellsey Howes jump shot. It was a lead they would never again relinquish as they began pulling away.

Severance added two more points to give the Scots a little breathing room and Howes scored six straight points to effectively end the game. Samantha Leach hit a three-pointer for the Mustangs with one second left, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Scots had rallied for a 49-45 victory.

“We’ve been struggling to really find our niche and get working as a team,” said Libby. “But we always seem to pull it out in the fourth quarter. For some reason we don’t play to our potential and then all of a sudden we kick it in. Once we learn to do that I think we’ll be able to show some teams what we’re made of.”

The loss drops Massabesic’s record to 1-5. They were scheduled to play Noble next. Bonny Eagle improves to 4-2 with three wins in a row. They were scheduled to face Windham next.

Copy the Story Link