BRUNSWICK

Having played four games already this season, it has been evident early on that the Brunswick High School girls basketball team isn’t going to rely on just one or two players this year.

Wednesday’s matinee was no different as it took a team effort from the Dragons to slip past a stingy Lawrence Bulldogs squad for a 37-31 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory.

“ It’s games like these that build us as a team,” said Brunswick coach Sam Farrell. “ It took great defense, clutch free-throw shooting, some big rebounds and some help off our bench to get today’s win.”

Sabrina Armstrong had a strong opening quarter for the Dragons. The senior put Brunswick on the board with a 3-pointer early in the frame. She followed with a block on the defensive end, and after a Camryn Lambert trey for Lawrence tied the game, Marley Groat hit a free throw for Brunswick, giving the Dragons a brief 6-5 lead.

A basket and a pair of free throws by Lawrence’s Molly Folsom gave the Bulldogs the lead before Emily Larochelle came off the bench to sink a 3-point shot, followed by Armstrong’s second 3-pointer of the quarter to give the home team a 12-10 lead at the first break.

“Our bench helped today. Emily came in when Sabrina got in foul trouble early and hit a big shot,” said Farrell. “Mackenzie (Burrows) and Rosalie (White) came in and got some minutes for us as well.”

The points came hard to come by in the second quarter. Three minutes went by before Armstrong got the first points of the quarter on a layup underneath, and soon the senior captain went to the bench with three fouls.

A 3- point basket by Megan Curtis put the Bulldogs ahead 15-14 with 2:57 remaining in the half. Despite not being able to score, the Dragon defense continued to keep them in the game, forcing 12 first-half turnovers and getting blocks from Armstrong and Burrows.

“Our defense did it for us today, because our offense sure wasn’t,” said Farrell.

Brunswick’s shots continued to be off target and a Brooklynn Lambert basket and a pair of Curtis free throws gave the Bulldogs a 19-15 lead going into the half.

Keagan Alley opened the second half with a basket from behind the arc to give Lawrence its biggest lead of the game, 22- 15, but Charlotte MacMillan immediately answered with a 3- pointer of her own for Brunswick.

After another 3-pointer from Caldwell put the Bulldogs ahead 25- 21, Groat grabbed an offensive rebound and put back the shot to cut the lead back to two. A Lawrence turnover gave Brunswick the opportunity to tie the game and Armstrong did just that by netting a layup while being fouled. She gave the Dragons the lead when the forward completed the threepoint play.

Alexis Guptill hauled down four rebounds during the physical play in the paint in the third quarter before sinking the final basket, with the Dragons trailing, 29-28.

“ I know I have to step underneath because of what we lost from last year,” said Guptill. “I know I have to be aggressive underneath and today was a good game for me.”

A Folsom basket put Lawrence ahead 31-28 early in the fourth, and it wasn’t until 4:20 remained in the contest before either team scored again. It was a big basket, as Armstrong grabbed a Brunswick miss and kicked it out to Groat, where the junior guard sank a 3-pointer to knot the game at 31-31.

Brunswick applied the pressure and forced back-to-back turnovers with three minutes remaining, and Armstrong stole the ball again with 1:45 left, but the Dragons were unable to score when Guptill’s shot underneath was blocked by Folsom.

Coming out of a timeout, Lawrence brought the ball to half court, where MacMillan forced a turnover and dribbled down the court for an uncontested layup and a Brunswick two-point lead with 1:01 remaining, 33-31.

“That is leadership right there,” said Farrell of his junior guard. “Charlotte works hard all the time and her teammates follow her lead.”

Lawrence turned the ball over on its next two possessions and fouled both Groat and then Armstrong in the final 15 seconds. The two sank all four shots from the charity stripe and the Dragons closed out the quarter on a 9-0 run for the six point win. Brunswick held the Bulldogs to just two fourth-quarter points.

“Our main focus is team defense. We really wanted it together as a team and we knew we had to pull through,” said Guptill.

The Dragons were 12-for-16 from the free throw line, including 8-for-9 in the second half. Armstrong finished with 13 points while Groat scored nine second-half points to finish with 10. Guptill grabbed seven rebounds, while Rian Sachs had five. MacMillan chipped in with seven points and four rebounds.

Caldwell scored a team high eight points, while Folsom chipped in with seven and Curtis added six in the loss. Lawrence fell to 2-3.

Brunswick hosts 4-1 Greely in a rematch of last year’s Class A South regional final on Friday at 12:30 p.m.

Brunswick 37, Lawrence 31

At Brunswick

Lawrence	—	10	9	10	2	—	31
Brunswick	—	12	3	13	9	—	37

Lawrence — Megan Curtis 1-3-6,
Brooklynn Lambert 2-1-5, Keagan
Alley 1-0-3, Camryn Caldwell 3-0-8,
Molly Folsom 2-3-7, Lexi Lewis 0-0-
0, Haley Holt 1-0-2. Totals — 10-7-
31,
Brunswick — Alexis Guptill 1-1-3,
Charlotte MacMillan 2-2-7, Rian
Sachs 0-0-0, Marley Groat 2-5-10,
Sabrina Armstrong 4-3-13, Emily
Larochelle 1-0-3, Rosalie White 0-0-
0, Mackenzie Burrow 0-1-1. Totals —
10-12-37.
3-point goals — (L) Curtis, Alley,
Caldwell 2; (B) MacMillan, Groat,
Armstrong 2, Larochelle.
Records — Brunswick 5-0, Lawrence
2-3.
Up next for Dragons — Friday at
home against Greely at 12:30 p.m.