TOPSHAM

The Mt. Ararat High School girls basketball team won’t impress you with size.

In fact, with Lindsey Cornelison out of the lineup with an injured shoulder, the Eagles’ biggest player stands just 5-foot-8, with several others much smaller in stature.

But, when guards Nikki Bradstreet and Sara Lamb find their rhythm from outside like they did in Friday’s 47-36 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference win over Skowhegan, look out.

Lamb hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter to force the Indians out of their defensive setup in the paint, and Bradstreet found her shot after starting slow to score 19 points, 14 coming in the second half.

Their hot shooting gives the Eagles a 4-4 mark, while Skowhegan dropped to 2-5. Both teams are in a battle for a playoff spot, with Mt. Ararat holding down the ninth and final position in the Maine Principals’ Association Heal Point Standings in Eastern A, just ahead of the 10th-place Indians.

Slow start

Neither team did much in the opening quarter, combining to shoot 4-of-26 from the floor with Mt. Ararat grabbing a 7-5 lead.

Skowhegan’s Annie Worthen drained a 3-pointer early in the second for a 10-9 edge, but the Eagles found their flow, going on a 10-0 run with Lamb draining two of her three treys in the frame.

“The past couple practices I have been having trouble with my shot, and I have my dad in the back of my head saying, ‘finger tips, finger tips,’” said Lamb. “I was able to get more confident and the shots started falling. If I’m open, I am going to shoot.”

“We were 2-for-14 in the first quarter, but 6-for-12 in the second with a lot of big shots,” said Mt. Ararat first-year coach Andy Morris.

Skowhegan answered Mt. Ararat’s run with a 6-0 spurt to close to 19-16 before Bradstreet gave the Indians a look of what was to come with a late 3-pointer and a 22-16 Eagles advantage at the break.

“At the half, we talked about all the things we did well and what we needed to fix, and we went out in the second half and did it,” said Lamb, who began the second half by feeding Allison Melcher down low. The strategy worked as Skowhegan standout Noah Stevens picked up three quick fouls to give her four and a spot on the bench.

“If we have an inside presence, which we really don’t, from Allison and Kate (Guerin), who is getting healthier every day, it is a lot of fun,” said Morris, whose Eagles forced 26 Skowhegan turnovers and held a 35-26 rebounding edge. “Defensively, they did a great job, especially at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth. That was the key to the 11-point win.”

“Our goal is to look to the inside first and then rotate on the outside,” said Bradstreet, who after missing her first five shots, scored seven points in the third quarter, including back-to-back baskets in 10 seconds to stretch a 30-21 advantage to 35-21. “I wasn’t sure that this was going to be a big game. Sometimes in the first half, I think about it too much. Then I tell myself to shoot, and that seems to work.”

The Mt. Ararat lead extended to a game-high 18 points, 45-27, on a Bradstreet steal and score before a late Skowhegan run.

Things surely don’t get any easier for the Eagles, who host Messalonskee tonight (7 p.m.), visit Oxford Hills on Thursday and close the week with a home date with “Battle of the Bridge” rival Brunswick this upcoming Saturday.

“We have a lot of big games coming up, games that we need to make a run at the playoffs,” said Bradstreet.

Stevens led Skowhegan with 12 points (eight in the fourth quarter), with Lindsey Warren adding eight points and 10 rebounds. Tracey Swanson picked up six steals. The Indians were 14-of-44 from the floor (31 percent) and 7- for-20 from the free-throw line.

Lamb finished with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists, with Melcher adding seven points, five rebounds and four steals. Bradstreet had a game-high seven steals, with Lauren Sturgess pulling down seven boards and Lauren Labbay six.

The Eagles shot 32 percent (17-of- 53) from the field and were 6-for-13 at the charity stripe.

Mt. Ararat 47,
Skowhegan 36

Friday, at Topsham
Skowhegan — 5 11 7 13 — 36
Mt. Ararat — 7 15 13 12 — 47
Skowhegan — Eliza Bedard 1-0-2, Noah
Stevens 4-4-12, Lindsey Warner 3-2-8, Cailee
Manzer 0-0-0, Tracey Swanson 5-1-11, Julia
Steeves 0-0-0, Journye Goeman 0-0-0, Annie
Worthen 1-0-3, Hannah Howard 0-0-0, Morgan
Ames 0-0-0. Totals — 14-7-36.
Mt. Ararat — Katelyn Cox 1-0-2, Sara Lamb 5-
0-14, Kate Guerin 1-1-3, Nikki Bradstreet 8-0-
19, Allison Melcher 2-3-7, Lauren Sturgess 0-
2-2, Lauren Labbay 0-0-0, Eliza Hodge 0-0-0,
Taylor Wienckowski 0-0-0. Totals — 17-6-47.
3-point field goals — (S) Worthen; (MtA)
Lamb 4, Bradstreet 3.
Records — Mt. Ararat 4-4, Skowhegan 2-5.
Up next for the Eagles — Tonight at home
against Messalonskee, 7 p.m.