PORTLAND — If maintaining focus is a key to doing well in final exams later this week, Marissa MacMillan might be looking at a pretty good average when grades are handed out at the end of the month.
MacMillan was brilliant when her team needed her most Tuesday night, scoring 13 of her 17 points in the second half and collecting 16 rebounds as Deering beat Windham 41-32 in a Southern Maine Activities Association girls’ basketball game at Deering High.
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“We knew we had to come out strong and stay focused because we’ve tended to lose (focus) at the end,” MacMillan said. “In the second half, I got on a roll, kind of, because I just kept my head in the game.”
And she helped keep Windham’s offense out of sync.
“Marissa was big on both ends of the floor,” said Deering Coach Mike Murphy. “That first quarter, I don’t know how many tips she had, or how many shots she discouraged.”
The Rams (10-4) and Eagles (9-4) entered the game tied for fourth in the Western Class A Heal point rankings. But Deering frustrated Windham with dogged defense and a clear size advantage, with MacMillan (6-foot-3) and Ella Ramonas (5-10) clogging the lane.
“We knew they were going to come out with tough defense, but I think it caught us off-guard a little bit, how good their defense was,” said Windham guard Meghan Gribbin, who led the Eagles with 15 points. “We were tentative at first, because our shots kept getting blocked.”
The Eagles’ typically free-wheeling attack found little success outside, as Ramonas, Chelsea Saucier, LeeAnn Downs and Alexis Stephenson got their hands up and out, tipping away passes and creating turnovers.
Ramonas kept Gribbin in check early, limiting her to one basket in the first half. That came on a fast-break layup at the end of the first quarter that gave Windham its first points of the game.
“Ramonas did a heck of a job on Gribbin, with her length,” Murphy said. “Ella is so long and lanky that it’s tough to shoot on her.”
Deering assumed a 20-10 lead by halftime and maintained control from there despite shooting just 6 for 24 from the line.
Gribbin started working off screens to get open in the third quarter, hitting two 3-pointers among her 10 points as Windham closed the gap to 31-22.
But by then MacMillan was finding her touch down low, pouring in nine points in the third to maintain the lead.
“The whole game, our shots weren’t falling,” said Windham guard Stephanie Frost, who held Ramonas to one point. “It was an off day for us. They played really good defense against us, so we couldn’t bounce back.”
Windham’s defense wasn’t exactly lacking.
“If you were to tell me before the game that we’d hold Ramonas to one point, I’d think for sure we’d win,” said Windham Coach Jessie Cummings. “But MacMillan was just huge. She had some shots that fell for her. She did a nice job for them.”
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