After stumbling last week, the Mt. Ararat girls’ basketball team decided enough was enough.
The Eagles impressed on both sides of the ball, getting 22 points from Julianna Allen and 16 from Cali Pomerleau in rolling to a 52-29 victory over Westbrook Tuesday night at Topsham.
Mt. Ararat improved to 8-2 after entering the night in the second spot in Class A South.
“We want to focus on consistency and play how we know we can play,” Eagles Coach Julie Petrie said. “Halfway through the season, we’re where we want to be.”
The Eagles were still feeling an edge going into Tuesday’s game. After a 6-0 start, Mt. Ararat dropped consecutive games to Deering and Brunswick, and eked out a 43-40 win over Freeport Saturday.
“We had a couple of losses recently and a close game, so the mentality was to go in and to just dominate,” Pomerleau said. “Score as much as we can and just have a good confidence builder game to lead us through the rest of the season.”
The Eagles never trailed, taking a 10-2 lead and leading by seven or more points the rest of the way. Mt. Ararat’s top weapon was Allen, a 6-1 sophomore who totaled nine rebounds and five blocks and also used her good footwork and finishing touch to carve up the smaller Blue Blazes in the paint.
“I just try to make my layups. I haven’t been doing so well from the foul line, so tonight I improved a lot in that,” Allen said. “Obviously there (was) a height difference, so I think going into the game that was part of the mentality.”
Allen had eight of the Eagles’ 10 points in the second quarter, helping them withstand Westbrook’s strongest push as the Blazes (4-7) cut the lead to seven at the break, 22-15. Allen led the conference in rebounds and blocks last year, but said she’s seen improvement in her second season.
“I think I’m a lot more confident in myself this year,” Allen said. “And I try to lead my team as much as I can.”
Petrie could see Tuesday’s performance coming.
“It was really nice to see her finish, finish with her left, she’s very versatile,” she said. “We let her go to work tonight, and I’m really proud of how she played.”
The Eagles’ stifling full-court pressure handled things from there. Mt. Ararat kept Westbrook scoreless for four minutes in the third, turning an eight-point lead into a 17-point advantage.
“We needed to come out and make a statement this game,” said Pomerleau, who along with Kennedy Lampert led that pressure. “When we’re all clicking, we’re rebounding, shooting, when everything’s flowing, we’ll be really tough to beat.”
Taylar Hodge had 12 points to lead Westbrook, which lost its sixth straight after a 4-1 start. Those losses have come against the region’s top teams, however, and Coach John Young said his team is eager to, as he said, “right the ship” in the remaining seven regular-season games.
“We’re learning as we go,” he said. “We’re in a little funk right now, so it’s tough when you’ve got a young team. … You’ve got to cut down on your mistakes, and you’ve got to shoot well. When you’re not shooting well, the turnovers become more magnified.”
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