Mt. Ararat’s Avery Beal shoots from behind the 3-point line during the Eagles' 47-41 win over Brunswick on Thursday in Brunswick. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

BRUNSWICK — Mt. Ararat girls basketball coach Julie Petrie and her athletic director, Geoff Godo, were discussing the upcoming season when the subject turned to the Eagles’ tricky schedule.

Petrie wasn’t fazed.

“He goes ‘Hey, you’ve got a tough schedule.’ I said ‘Good,'” she said. “It’s good for us. It’s going to be tough, we’re going to have to earn it and be ready. It’s a good thing.”

The difficult schedule hasn’t done much to slow down the Eagles. After beating Brunswick, 47-41, in a Class A South final rematch in a packed gym Thursday, Mt. Ararat is 7-2 and in third place in the Class A South Heal point standings.

The Eagles are soaring, and they’re doing it against what’s been the region’s toughest slate. Entering Thursday, 10 of Mt. Ararat’s 18 opponents were in fourth place or better in their respective classes – a group that includes Biddeford (9-2, first in B South), Cony (9-1, second in A North) and Edward Little (7-3, second in AA North). The winning percentage of Mt. Ararat’s eight opponents was .584, topping Gray-New Gloucester (.514), Marshwood (.483), Brunswick (.522) and Kennebunk (.394), the other teams in A South’s top five.

So the Eagles have been tested. Which has made their success thus far all the more sweet.

“I think that’s definitely good for us, because it does keep us on our feet,” said senior point guard Kennedy Lampert, who came off the bench to score 10 points, including a pivotal 3-pointer that made it 44-39 with 3:36 to go. “I definitely feel a confidence when we walk in the gym. … I look at this as an opportunity. I love it. I love competition. If it wasn’t there, there’s no fun in it.”

So far, Mt. Ararat has wins against Gray-New Gloucester (10-2) and Medomak Valley (8-2), in addition to the triumph over Brunswick (6-4), and losses against Cony and Marshwood (9-1). The tests aren’t stopping, with Biddeford up next and rematches with Gray-New Gloucester and Brunswick and clashes with Oceanside and Edward Little still on tap.

“I think it’s good for us. It prepares us for playoffs,” said junior forward Kayleigh Wagg, who had eight points and five rebounds, and led the defensive effort against Brunswick’s Lexi Morin (16 points, six rebounds). “We have a team that can go far this year if we play the way we know we can. … I knew we had to stay locked in.”

Such a schedule helps with that endeavor. The Eagles have high hopes with every starter back, and having to face team after team with similar aspirations prevents them from getting complacent.

“Every day’s going to make us better. I don’t want to roll over teams or vice versa, and come to the tournament and think things are going to be easy,” Petrie said. “We’ve played physical teams, and we’ve lost a couple of close games, too, so we have that reality of if we don’t show up, we can be beat.”

Thursday’s game looked initially like it was headed for that latter group, as Brunswick raced out to a 22-13 lead more than halfway through the second quarter and went into halftime with a 26-19 advantage. But the Eagles, led by 3-pointers from Avery Beal, Cali Pomerleau (eight points), Wagg and Jaelyn Jensen, scored 20 points in the third to take a 39-34 lead.

After Lampert’s late 3, Morin drew a technical and made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 44-41 with 1:16 left, but the Dragons missed a shot on their next possession and had to foul after Pomerleau grabbed the rebound.

“It was gritty,” Petrie said. “Brunswick-Mt. Ararat’s always a fun battle. … I’m just happy how they grinded it out, got some stops, and our shots started falling.”

The Dragons, who have dropped four of their last six, have been battling injuries and have had to play underclassmen in big roles. Senior Kyra Fortier, a starting guard, missed the game because of an ankle injury. Eva Harvie (five points) was battling illness and Morin has missed some action.

Maya Koerber-Marx (eight rebounds) and sophomores Julianna Morin (12 points) and Cheyenne Shipley (seven) had strong games in a gutsy effort from Brunswick.

“We came out following the game plan, and you could see it. … They were deeper than us. They owned that third quarter and we couldn’t get back,” Brunswick coach Sam Farrell said. “We’re looking at growth. Winning this game today is not as important as winning during vacation week, when we’re in the Expo.”