Katie Fitzpatrick had a rare kind of triple-double to lead the Maine Girls’ Academy to a 57-34 win against Biddeford in an SMAA girls’ basketball game Tuesday night.

Fitzpatrick, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard/forward who transferred from Greely High School, scored a team-high 11 points, grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and had 13 steals to propel the unbeaten Lions past the Tigers (2-4).

Jill Joyce and Serena Mower each scored 10 points to help MGA notch its fifth win.

Biddeford’s Grace Martin led all scorers with 17 points.

The game also marked the return of Emily Weisser, a 5-9 senior forward who missed all but one game during the past two seasons after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee twice. She entered the game as a substitute late in the first quarter.

“I’m not used to playing but it was so good,” she said. “It was scary a little bit but I’m got over it or tried to … It’s a little bit of a mental game coming back, but I’m getting over it and it’s going to be good.”

MGA Coach Bill Goodman said Weisser, who hit a 3-point shot late in the first for her only points, made major contributions in the lopsided win.

“She did a lot of things that don’t show up on a stat sheet,” he said. “She’s been with me four years (and) she’s been one of the best defenders I’ve ever coached. She’s an awesome defender.”

Defense provided the key to the Lions’ success against the Tigers.

“Their press is obviously impressive,” said Biddeford Coach Katie Herbine said. “They’re long. They’re quick and they play as a team and that’s a big thing. They’re obviously very difficult to beat when they play together.”

The Lions used a full-court press to force Biddeford into 29 turnovers.

“They kept us out of an offense,” Herbine said. “They are up and so aggressive that we didn’t do a good job of getting in plays because they’re in your face and they’re denying.”

“We just like to put pressure on the ball,” Fitzpatrick said. “We just try to get low and we try to stop penetration and shots. We just work really, really hard. That’s what we really do.”

The Lions put together a 10-0 run over a span of three minutes during the first quarter to move into a 13-7 lead less than seven minutes into the game.

MGA finished the first half with a 12-2 run to move into a 30-15 lead. It connected on 7 of 14 shots during the second quarter.

The Lions, who limited the Tigers to a total of 10 points during the second and third quarters, opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take a 41-17 lead.

Fitzpatrick recorded an unusual triple-double after entering the game in the first half as a sub.

“Everybody on the team has a role, so there are (players) who come off the bench to bring a boost of energy,” she said. “We have to do as much as we can as a team. It’s very important to me that we all work together, so when I get those steals I just try to do it for my team.”

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