MT. ARARAT HIGH SCHOOL forward Caitlin LaFountain (12) shows her wingspan while guarding Edward Little’s Kennedy Hubbard (21) during a KVAC girls basketball game at Topsham on Friday.
Her Eagles hit five of their first 10 shots, led 14-9, were controlling the boards and causing half-court havoc for the talented Eddies, who faced the same thing in a season opening 52-41 loss to Mt. Ararat back on Dec. 9.
MT. ARARAT’S Leah Hitchcock, left, battles Edward Little’s Kory Norcross (22) for the ball during a KVAC girls high school basketball game in Topsham on Friday. The Eddies won 45-41 as the Eagles dropped their third consecutive game.
The setback is the third straight for the Eagles, who are now 7-5 and visit Oxford Hills on Tuesday, while EL won its 10th straight to improve to 10-2 and jumped all the way up from the fourth spot to the No. 2 position in Eastern Maine Class A. Mt. Ararat fell from third to fifth.
For the Eagles, it was the unkind rims that did in the home team. Mt. Ararat made just three field goals covering a 20- minute stretch. The Eagles missed all 12 of their shots in the second quarter to fall behind 18-17 at the half, and the struggles continued as EL standout Ashlee Arnold found her stroke with back-toback treys for a 29-19 Eddies advantage with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
“I thought we had a really good start, having not had a lot of good luck shooting the ball at home, but we shot well in the first quarter and got some good looks at the basket,” said LaFountain. “We started to press a little bit and missed a lot of inside shots, 12 in the first half, and our free throws (nine of 20 in the game).
“They have some good outside shooters, and when they get hot, you’re in trouble. Our defense picked up tonight, which I was happy to see.”
All Eagles
Both teams found the going tough in the game’s first three minutes. Mt. Ararat broke the ice on a Mallory Nelson jumper, and Chelsea Crawford stepped back and drained a 3-pointer, kicking off an 8-0 Eagles run for a 10-4 lead.
“We have been focusing on getting our intensity back up since it’s been lacking the last couple games, and once we brought it back up we were doing well,” said Crawford, who scored all five of her points in the first quarter.
Two free throws by Nelson out of the gates in the second quarter gave the Eagles a 16-9 lead, but the cylinder was cruel to the hosts from there. Mt. Ararat rimmed out five shots, and the Eddies began chipping away at their deficit.
After Crissy Lewis brought EL to within a point, 17-16, Arnold stole an inbounds pass and converted to put the Eddies up 18-17 at the half.
Mt. Ararat shot just 23 percent (six of 26) from the floor in the opening 16 minutes, and struggled mightily at the charity stripe (three of eight).
Leah Hitchcock pulled down one of her 14 rebounds and went back up for two points to give the Eagles their final lead, 19-18, early in the second half. Arnold quickly put EL ahead to stay with a trey as the Eddies went on an 11-0 run, capped by Arnold’s second 3-pointer of the frame for a 29-19 EL lead.
“They started hitting shots and getting some open looks,” said Crawford.
EL’s lead ballooned to a game-high 13 points (38-25) as guard Kate Sawyer found Lewis inside for four tough points with 5:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Mt. Ararat refused to quit as Hitchcock and Nelson took over, leading the Eagles on a 10-0 run to get to 38-35 with 1:51 remaining.
“We were really fired up, and wanted to pick up our intensity and rebounding, fundamental things that make us a team, and we decided we wanted to come back and get into their heads,” said Hitchcock, who scored eight of her team- high 18 points down the stretch.
The Eagle forward also pulled down 14 rebounds for a double-double, but EL made seven of 11 free throws to close out the win.
“This game we feel we got our confidence back and can get back to what we were doing at the beginning of the season. We have some momentum now and we are ready to take on Oxford Hills,” said Hitchcock.
“To win this is absolutely huge because they will win some more games,” said EL coach Craig Jipson. “We thought if we could pick up the pace we would have success, but their kids are warriors. Kelly (LaFountain) does such a great job with those kids.
“They are so long and athletic, and just hit the boards hard and play really hard. They really wanted it and got after it down the stretch.”
Arnold led all scorers with 22 points (nine of 12 at the foul line), while Kory Norcross chipped in eight points and Lewis seven. Sawyer dished out four assists, while Norcross, Arnold, Lewis and Brooke Reynolds each pulled down five rebounds.
The Eddies shot 35 percent (13 of 37) from the floor and made 14 of 21 foul shots.
Nelson had 10 points, five caroms, four steals and three assists for the Eagles, while Caitlin LaFountain stood out defensively with six rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals while helping out the offense with three assists. Kristi Willey added eight points. Mt. Ararat was 15 of 58 (25 percent) from the field and held a 32-24 rebounding edge.
Edward Little 45, Mt. Ararat 41
At Mt. Ararat High School
Edward Little – 9 9 11 16 — 45
Mt. Ararat – 14 3 8 16 — 41
EL — Kate Sawyer 1-0-2, Emily Hartnett 0-0-0, Kory Norcross 3-1-8,
Ashlee Arnold 5-9-22, Crissy Lewis 3-1-7, Tianna Harriman 1- 2- 5,
Brooke Reynolds 0-1-1, Kelly Philbrook 0-0-0, Kennedy Hubbard 0-0-0,
MaryKate Masters 0-0-0.
Totals — 13-14-45.
MA — Chelsea Crawford 2-0-5, Caitlin LaFountain 0-0-0, Kristi Willey 3-1-8,
Leah Hitchcock 7-4-18, Mallory Nelson 3-4-10, Molly Estes 0-0-0,
Lindsey Cornelison 0-0-0, Micaela Mitchell 0-0-0, Olivia Swan 0-0-0.
Totals — 15-9-41.
3-pointers — (EL) Norcross, Arnold 3, Harriman; (MA) Crawford, Willey.
Records — Edward Little 10-2, Mt. Ararat 7-5.
Next for the Eagles — Tuesday at Oxford Hills, 6:30 p.m.
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