SCARBOROUGH — The pieces are starting to come together and fit a little tighter for the McAuley High girls’ basketball team.
The Lions enter the Christmas break unbeaten after their sixth straight win, a solid 63-44 Class AA South decision on Tuesday over Scarborough.
Scarborough, which had won three straight, is 3-2.
“Running the offense helps for us,” said McAuley senior center Jess Willerson, who scored 21 points. “We were finally able to execute it. We’ve had some trouble with that in a couple of our past games. The execution helped us to bring it out in the second half.”
Leading 29-22 at half, McAuley combined lockdown defense with improved ball movement that led to good looks for all the Lions in a decisive 17-3 quarter.
“When we move the ball and play team offense and team defense we’re not bad,” McAuley Coach Bill Goodman said.
Willerson, Emily Weisser and Sarah Clement each scored four points in the quarter.
Clement is working her way back from a second major knee injury, suffered last season in the playoffs at the Cross Insurance Arena. She also missed the first two games of the season due to a concussion.
“Sarah’s a work in progress,” Goodman said. “She’s 50 percent of what she used to be but she knows, like last year, that over time she’s slowly going to get better.”
Weisser was battling flu symptoms and got in early foul trouble in the first half. She scored all seven of her points in the second half.
“The third quarter when we needed her, she played great,” Goodman said. “She’s got a lot of potential.”
Brooke Howard was another key contributor, scoring nine points for McAuley, and sophomore guard Eva Mazur (3 points) continued to show she can affect a game without scoring with six steals.
South Portland jumped ahead 9-4 on precise 3-point shooting from Sophie Glidden (two in a row) and freshman point guard Josie Couture over the McAuley zone. Scarborough made five of its eight first-half 3-point attempts.
“We asked them to catch it and look to score,” Scarborough Coach Mike Giordano said. “We’ve got some kids that can shoot it. I’m not going to hold them back.”
Scarborough’s final lead came at 19-16 with five minutes left in the second period after Couture and Jamie Sargent hit consecutive 3-pointers.
Scarborough cooled off, making 2 of 8
3-pointers in the second half, including 0 of 4 in the third quarter. Scarborough did not make a basket in the second half until Glidden (12 points) cut to the hoop and converted with 6:40 left in the game.
Giordano pointed to Willerson and Clement for making key shots.
“Their two experienced kids took the game over and we have to find a way to score a basket and stop a run and we didn’t do that tonight,” Giordano said.
Clement’s first basket was a 3-pointer that tied the game at 19. Willerson scored eight points in the second quarter as McAuley gained control.
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