BRUNSWICK

The first half likely had Brunswick fans reliving the nightmare from the Dragons’ season-opening Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference overtime loss (36-30) to Morse back in early December.

Trailing 19-17 at the half after making just four field goals from the floor (4-of-21), Brunswick’s six-game winning streak was in jeopardy if the Dragons shot the same way in the second half.

Instead, Brunswick turned up the defensive pressure and found enough offensive flow for a 44-30 victory, a seven-game winning streak and a 7-4 mark.

In a battle of top-six teams in the Class A South Heal Point Standings, the Dragons rode the hot hand of Sabrina Armstrong, who had 17 points, six rebounds and two assists.

After missing a couple early shots, Armstrong kept the slow-starting Dragons in it by going 5-for-5 at the freethrow line in the first quarter as the teams played to an 8-8 deadlock.

“After I missed a couple shots, they didn’t get down on me or tell me to stop shooting. They told me to keep shooting and I did,” said Armstrong, who added four more points in the second quarter, including a 3- pointer as Brunswick trailed at the half.

“We were flat yesterday in practice and came out flat tonight,” said Brunswick coach Sam Farrell. “Morse is physical and that is what they’re good at. It took us until the second half to get past that. Sabrina hit some big shots, got some big rebounds, and is just a bigshot kid.”

Morse trailed 13-8 in the second quarter before an 11-0 run gave the Shipbuilders a 19-13 lead with 1:40 left until halftime. Isabelle Paulus scored five of her seven points during the run, with Signe Ostergaard adding four.

Morse coach Becky Roak was surprised her team led at the intermission considering the Shipbuilders made just 8-of-33 shots from the floor and committed 10 turnovers.

“At halftime, I was surprised we were up on the scoreboard because we didn’t have a lot of flow and didn’t go to our strength inside,” said Roak.

At the half, Farrell wanted his team to tighten up the defense and find some offensive rhythm. Trailing 22-20, the Dragons put together a 19-3 run that carried well into the fourth quarter for a 39-25 lead.

“We just came together as a team and coach said we just needed to put the ball in the hoop,” said Armstrong, who had two treys and eight points during the game-winning run. “Our energy picked up, and we just played better and pulled it out.”

“The second half the defense was great. They had a couple good looks near the end, but most of the second half we did a good job bottling them up,” said Farrell.

“In the second half, they did a nice job taking away our strength and we didn’t score,” said Roak after her Shipbuilders tallied just 11 second-half points while making 4-of-24 from the floor. “That run just deflates a team, and I just have to hand it to Brunswick. They hit their shots from the perimeter and did a nice job.”

Brunswick forward Madeline Suhr was held scoreless for nearly three quarters, but finished with 11 points, nine blocked shots and six rebounds. Adrianna White also picked up 11 points and pulled down five boards, while Armstrong chipped in six rebounds and two assists.

Neither team shot well, as Brunswick finished at 24 percent (14-of- 57) and Morse 22 percent (12-of-57). At the foul line, the Dragons were 11-of-20, led by Armstrong, who was 6-of-8.

Ostergaard paced Morse with 12 points and five rebounds. Paulus finished with seven points, nine boards, two assists and two steals, with Emma Harrington adding a game-high 11 rebounds.

Brunswick 44, Morse 30

At Brunswick

Morse	—	8	11	5	6	–	30
Brunswick		— 8	9	13	14	–	44

Morse — Sierra Wallace 2-1-5, Signe Ostergaard 5-1-12, Emma Harrington 1-1-3, Isabelle Paulus 3-1-7, Noa Sreden 0-0-0, Katie Moore 1-0-3, Marissa Parks 0-0-0, Emma Gould 0- 0-0, Samantha Brown 0-0-0. Totals — 12-4-30. Brunswick — Charlotte MacMillan 0- 0-0, Sabrina Armstrong 4-6-17, Madeline Suhr 4-2-11, Emily Black 1- 0-3, Adrianna White 4-3-11, Brooke Barter 1-0-2, Brianna Newton 0-0-0, Heather Kinee 0-0-0, Rian Sachs 0-0- 0, Anna Kousky 0-0-0, Aidan Sachs 0-0-0, Alicia Armstrong 0-0-0, Allie Eck 0-0-0, Margaret Dickinson 0-0-0. Totals — 14-11-44. 3-point field goals — (Mo) Signe Ostergaard, Katie Moore; (B) Sabrina Armstrong 3, Madeline Suhr, Emily Black. Records — Brunswick 7-4, Morse 6- 5. Up next for the Shipbuilders — Thursday at home against Leavitt, 6:30 p.m. Up next for the Dragons — Thursday at Medomak Valley, 7 p.m.