BATH — It’s not about how a team starts, but how it finishes.
After rocky starts against Wiscasset, the Morse girls and boys basketball teams both finished strong Wednesday night.
It took nearly seven minutes for Morse to sink its first field goal in the girls game, but the Shipbuilders were eventually able to find a rhythm on their way to a 70-11 win.
“It always starts on defense for us,” said Morse coach Beth Carlton. “So if we can get in the passing lanes, get a steal, and then we make that breakaway layup, things just start rolling in for us. So, mainly, I don’t want them to stop shooting when the shots aren’t falling, I want them to keep shooting … because eventually things will go our way and they’ll fall.”
The Wolverines held a narrow lead for much of the first quarter as the margin remained in single-digits and the action, for the most part, on the Shipbuilders’ side of the court. After leading at halftime 27-8, Morse (6-7) held Wiscasset (1-9) to three second-half points, including a scoreless fourth quarter.
Junior guard Reese Darling led the Shipbuilders with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Junior forward Rebekah Plummer added 15. By the final buzzer, 10 players contributed baskets to Morse’s final score.
Darling said that the team felt confident coming into Wednesday’s matchup, but the intensity from the Class D Wiscasset team, 12 days removed from snapping a 122-game losing streak, was a wake up call to the Class B host.
“I just had to remind everyone who we are as a team and how we can play, and just kind of stepped it up when I got subbed out,” Darling said. “Changed (our) mindset, just reset and got it done.”
Sophomore guard Michelle Farrin led Wiscasset with five points, and junior forward Olivia Marshall scored three points. Xoe Morse and Trixie Loyola added two and one, respectively.
Morse boys put pep in step in third quarter
The Morse boys basketball team may have opened the second leg of the Route 1 doubleheader with a quick lead, but as Wiscasset forced turnovers and converted tough, contested shots, the home team was looking at a four-point deficit during the halftime break.
That’s when Morse coach Steve Stewart gave it to his team.
“I just told them that they’re better than that,” Stewart said. “I believe in those kids, I believe in us. I think that we are a really good basketball team, and my pep talk was really just, ‘Believe in yourself. We are way too good for this. We are a much better team than we showed, and it’s time for us to put what we do in practice into a game.'”
The Shipbuilders (4-9) responded with aggression and turned in a 54-41 win over the Wolverines (7-3).
“We were just joking about it, sometimes he’s just got to give it to us at halftime and really get us going at the half. but I think we just got to want it more,” senior forward Waylon Rhorer said. “I mean we came out, we were pumped up, and we’re not going to lose in front of all our fans that are coming out.”
Midway through the third quarter, Wiscasset held a seven-point lead, its largest of the night, but Morse rallied and closed the frame on a 14-1 run. The highlight was Rhorer’s emphatic steal and layup through contact, before converting the and-one to tie the game at 29. Rhorer finished with nine points.
Junior guard Bryce Bustamante led the Shipbuilders with 16 points.
Senior guard Jevar Garricks led Wiscasset with 16 points, while Julien King and Landin Shirey each scored nine.
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