SCARBOROUGH — A driving rainstorm made life difficult for Kennebunk in its regular season finale. But while the rain was pesky, it was the Red Storm and its dominance in time of possession that spelled defeat for the Rams, as they fell to Scarborough 13-8 in an SMAA girls lacrosse game at Mitchell Sports Complex on Friday.

The Rams (7-5) looked like they were all warmed up for a battle with the defending state champions, and Olivia Sanford put them on top just 22 seconds in.

Scarborough (7-4) scored two goals in 30 seconds four minutes in, but Kennebunk scored the next three goals to take a 4-2 lead. Betsy Craig scored 34 seconds after the Red Storm’s pair of goals, and Rose Bryant scored a free-position goal just over a minute later.

After a stretch of over six minutes without any scoring ”“ a stretch that included a couple big saves by Kennebunk goalie Lizzie Stockbridge ”“ the Rams scored again when Jennifer Bush took the ball from the top of the attacking zone, beat a defender to the right, and snuck a shot inside the left post.

It was all downhill from there for the Rams, however, as Scarborough went on a 6-0 run the rest of the half. Avery Pietras and Kaitlin Prince scored less than a minute apart prior to the 15 minute mark of the half to the game at 4-4. 1:34 later Pietras fed Ainsley Jamieson in transition to put the Red Storm on top for good.

“In this game, when you have possession of the ball, you need to keep the ball, and protect the ball,” said Kennebunk head coach Annie Barker. “And we didn’t do a good job of that in the beginning.”

Prince scored twice more in the half, and Abby Corbin scored 14 seconds after Prince’s third goal with under five minutes to go to give Scarborough an 8-4 halftime lead.

“They get on fire, and it’s pretty tough to stop,” said Kennebunk senior Hannah Snow about not being able to stop Scarborough’s run.

Kennebunk got back some momentum early in the second half as Sanford found Allie Truman for a goal with a pass from behind the net just 58 seconds in. A free-position goal by Bryant six minutes later cut the deficit to two.

“I think after coach Barker talked to us, we were all pretty fired up and ready to come back, and we did for a little while,” said Snow. “But it’s hard to keep it going throughout the game.”

But Scarborough pulled away again, scoring three goals in a 3:25 span ”“ including another goal by Prince ”“ to extend the lead to 11-6.

The teams traded a pair of goals over the final 7:42 of the game to get the final tally. Haley Fecko scored her first two goals of the game for Kennebunk, while Pietras scored her third and fourth, including one final goal with 49 seconds left.

The loss wrapped up the regular season for Kennebunk, which lost four of its final six. It was also another loss to the Red Storm, who the Rams lost to in the Western Maine semifinals last season.

Still, the Rams have a playoff game to prepare for, and a team with experience playing in the postseason that can move on from the disappointing finish.

Barker said her team just needs to “keep on working, and keep on perfecting what we’ve got so far.”

Snow was upbeat about her team’s chances, even after defeat.

“We just need to keep our heads in it and stay strong as a team. I think when we work together we do the best,” Snow said.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 323. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.