SCARBOROUGH—The guard has officially been changed.

Friday evening at Alumni Gym, the two-time defending Class A state champion Deering Rams fell to 1-2 on the 2009-10 season with their second straight loss, a devastating 52-50 decision to the Scarborough Red Storm, who now assume the bulls-eye as the team to beat in the region.

The Rams controlled play in the first half and led by as many as 12, but down the stretch, the Red Storm made a powerful statement in front of the home folks, rallying to take the lead for good on two foul shots from senior standout Christy Manning with 1:09 to play, then holding on for dear life to improve to 3-0.

 

 

Ross

“I don’t think I”ve eve rplayed like I did tonight. I’m usually not a shooter. I just threw it up and it went in. I had two 3s. I usually don’t shoot 3s. I’m usually more of a defensive specialist. I have confidence in myself. If I’m open, I’ll take it.”
“We’ve all been playing together since sixth grade travel and we want it so bad.”
“This is huge. It sends out a huge statement to the whole league that we’re here to stay and we’re ready to do something Scarborough’s never done before.”
“A lot of us play other sports and know how to handle pressure.”

Manning

“Since we entered Class A, we haven’t been at the top. Beating a top team is pretty impressive for us.”
“Our team doesn’t give up. No matter what the score is. We moved the ball to get better looks in the second half and played better defense.”
“It was pretty nerve-wracking at the end.”
“In the second half, we played more of a zone and got out on their shooters more. I think that helped. We ran the ball and got them tired.”
“Even though we won, we have to put it behind us and improve even more. There’s a still a lot we can do to improve. Hopefully by the end of the year, we’ll be at our best and can win the state championship.”

Seavey

“It’s a statement win for the program. It’s the first time we’ve beaten Deering. It’s senior leadership. At some point, our senior leadership had to pay dividends and tonight was a prime indication of that and hopefully a sign of things to come. A lot of teams down 12 would have packed it up and went home, but we did what we had to do.”
“She only had a layup in the second half. We went from fullcourt man to matchup and kept shifting it up in the second half. We tried to keep them guessing. We also made some huge shots. Christy’s always going to be there. It’s the complements. They tried to take Colpitts out of the game, but she had a couple big buckets. Sarah Moody had some big buckets. Heather Carrier had a big 3.”
“I knew coming in we were getting them off a loss and an awful performance at the line. We knew it would be a good measuring stick.”
“Now, we’re the hunted. The target grew a lot bigger tonight. We have to bring our ‘A’ game from here on it. It doesn’t get any easier.  A lot of teams will come into games with us with a mentality of having everything to gain and nothing to lose. We’ll see how we react. It was good for us to get pushed like that.”
“They’ll be a force by the end of the season. I like the fact they put up 33 in the first half and 17 in the second. We got it done. Defenisvely and rebound-wise we stepped up nicely in the second half.”

 

Murphy

“It still comes down to defense and taking care of the ball. We’re still trying to find ourselves. We did a better job tonight than we did the other night. We were poor the other night. Tonight we were better, but we gave one way.”
“I think we ran out of gas, to be honest. Our shots weren’t falling. We didn’t take the ball to the basket when they gave it to us. The ball went in the first half, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it will in the second. At gutcheck time, we had to take the ball to the hoop, but we didn’t take advantage. We hope to get better and learn from this.”

“Kayla wasn’t the same after her third foul. She has to realize she has five. You can’t stop on three.”

“I’m pleased with how we bounced back. We hadn’t lost in almost two years. The kids had a nice practice last night and came out with some fire. That’s a good sign.”

“This has long-term repercussions. When you have the ball and the score is tied, you have to take care of it. It’s gold. You should panic as an offensive player. We’ll live and learn. This group has a whole different identity. Last year’s group had tremendous room for errors. This group doesn’t and we’ve seen it.”
“It was helter skelter the last few possessions. We had the ball, advantage us. We have to learn that as a team. Same thing on the defensive end. I really believe the legs were a factor in the second half. Burch missed two weeks of preseason with tendinitis. She’s just coming back. We’re trying to find combinations to give kids breathers. Obviously, they’re a quality team. Overall, I’m pleased with my kids.”