WELLS — Practice made perfect for the Wells Warriors Thursday night, as they played tenacious defense in a 34-28 victory over Fryeburg at Ronco Gymnasium in Wells.
“I think they were pleased with the way they played defensively, and they recognized that the hard work that we did all week in practice paid off defensively tonight,” Wells head coach Don Abbott said about his team’s performance on the defensive end.
The Warrior defense was solid from the start, as they gave up just four points in the first quarter. Wells (3-4) started and ended the quarter on 5-0 runs, which were sandwiched around back-to-back baskets by the Raiders (2-5).
The second of those baskets was by Freyburg’s 6-foot tall center, Skye Dole, who didn’t make another field goal until the final seconds of the game. It was no coincidence, as Wells keyed on Dole all night.
“We just committed to making sure that we took away the paint. We knew Skye Dole for them was a very good player,” said Abbott.
Dole came into the game averaging nearly 20 points per game, but was held to just seven against Wells. The Warriors double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed Dole, and they were able to contain her.
“It just took a lot of dedication to just not let her get open. Just to always know where she was, and never let her be alone,” said Wells forward Sophie Lamb, who was one of the players tasked with stopping Dole.
Not only did the Warriors stop Dole, but did so without getting into foul trouble. The Warriors committed just nine team fouls, and no player had more than two. Lamb said that was a big key.
“In the past our big girls, we’ve gotten in a lot of trouble. And just this game, we focused”¦and boxed out,” said Lamb.
Wells lead the entire game, thanks to its defense, but never was able to pull away. The Warriors still held a six-point advantage at half, leading at 18-12, but saw that lead fall to 25-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Warriors had with trouble turning the ball over, especially when trying to score in transition. Despite the impressive performance on defense, Abbott thought his team could have done much better on the other side of the ball.
“We got to do a better job of not leaving points on the table,” said Abbott. “I think we’re a more talented offensive team than we’re showing.”
The Warriors were led by Alison Furness and Kaitlyn Tufts, with eight points each, and Nicole Moody chipped in with seven.
Furness had to work extra hard to get her points, as Fryeburg guarded just as closely as the Warriors guarded Dole.
While the Wells offense wasn’t running on all cylinders, Abbott didn’t seem too worried. He said could win just about any game with the way they played defense.
“You’re not going to lose a lot of games when you give up 28 points,” said Abbott. “I don’t care if the game is 8-4, as long as we win.”
Lamb said it was important that they played as well defensively as they did, as the Warriors have a tough slate of upcoming games, and will need to play as well on defense as they can.
“Tonight is going to help us”¦prepare for our future games,” said Lamb.
— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less