The two teams battled to a 25-25 stalemate in the first half, but the Rams surged in the third quarter to outpace Morse 20-10 to help get past the scrappy Shipbuilders.
“We just did a better job of taking care of the ball, going to the basket. We talked about it as a team that we get afraid of making mistakes and we get the jitters with the ball, then we make the mistakes anyway. It’s a team that is inexperienced at the varsity level, they’re kind of finding their way,” said Kennebunk coach Rob Sullivan of the team’s third quarter performance.
Freshman Emily Archibald had a big night for the Rams, scoring Kennebunk’s first 11 points and guiding them to an 11-10 lead after one. The two clubs battled in the second quarter, and each would hit multiple 3-pointers down the stretch to force the 25-25 tie at the break.
“(Morse) shot unbelievable tonight, (Sierra Wallace), if it was in the air then it was going in,” said Sullivan. “With their shooting we just couldn’t put them away. We played pretty good D but the shot just went in anyway. That’s why you have to make just enough plays as the game goes on and tonight was one of those nights where we made enough plays.”
Kennebunk would open the third by going on a 9-2 run, and late 3-pointers from Jess Dupler and Ali Weisheit would help extend the lead to 45-35 heading into the fourth.
Morse managed to cut the Kennebunk lead to five points midway through the final quarter, but the Rams held on to win down the stretch.
“(The plan) was to have them turn the ball over. We had to get quick scores and we had to get them to turn the ball over so we did some trapping and it worked, we just couldn’t capitalize on the other end,” said Veinot after the loss.
Archibald led Kennebunk with 18 points, while teammate Alaina Schatzabel added 13.
Wallace had a game-high 20 points for Morse, while Marisa Parks added eight.
Despite the loss, Veinot has been pleased with her club’s improvement throughout the season.
“We lost by 20 to (Kennebunk) in a preseason game so we’re a better team now. We’re playing a lot tougher, our offense is much better, we just have to continue to get better,” said Veinot.
The Rams improve to 5-1, and Sullivan hopes his young team continues to grow as it enters the midseason grind.
“It’s nice, it’s a good thing. I think we have played some other young teams along the way, we have some good tests and are going to get into the meat of the schedule pretty soon … we have some big games ahead,” said Sullivan. “We’ve been saying the most important game of the season is the next game and they’ve really started to buy into that. I felt that they played tonight like it was the most important game of the season.”
— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.
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