BIDDEFORD — The Massabesic girls basketball team picked up its first win of the season with an impressive 48-24 performance over the hosting Biddeford Tigers.

Despite falling behind in the first quarter, the Mustangs took control thanks to a big second quarter and never let it go, cruising for the remainder of the game.

“It feels really good. They’ve worked really hard so to finally get a win really validates them mentally,” said Massabesic coach Ian Ryan. “They’re a good group — they work really hard.” 

Biddeford took the 7-6 lead in the first quarter, with the two teams going shot-for-shot in the opening eight minutes.

Massabesic would storm back in the second, beginning the quarter by going on an 11-0 run. Captain McKenzy Ouellette led the Mustangs, getting three consecutive scores for six points in the streak.

Trailing 25-13 at half, the Tigers looked sharp in the third quarter and managed to cut into the Massabesic lead. Although the Tigers climbed back, Ouellette and fellow captain Madison Drain would catch fire in the closing minutes of the third and went on a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach.

Massabesic would finish strong, outscoring Biddeford 11-2 in the final quarter to secure the win.

Ouellette led Massabesic with a game-high 21 points while teammate Emily Stinson finished with eight. Grace Martin led the Tigers with 13 points scored. 

Ryan was proud of the way his club battled for four quarters, and believes that will be the key moving forward to the back nine of the season.

“They’ve had some opportunities this year. It was nice to see them string four quarters together because really, they can compete with just about anybody if they play well,” said Ryan. “When they get going and come together they can really fly high. When we have those opportunities it’s important. What we say in practice is that if you have it then you’ve got to take it … they did that, they kept pushing, that was the difference.”

The Mustangs now improve to 1-10 on the year while Biddeford falls to 1-10. Massabesic will travel to rival Sanford on Friday, and Ryan hopes that Monday’s win will spark a new energy in his squad moving forward.

“It’s good to get over the hump. We take it one game at a time for sure, we had a challenging start to the season, we have had injuries … they know that they can do it and we have our rival (Sanford) on Friday so they’ll definitely be up for that. Having done it once I am hoping they can continue to do it.”

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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