WATERBORO —The Biddeford girls basketball team beat the host Massabesic 57-52 in a close contest Thursday night.

Grace Martin led the Tigers with 23 points while Brittany Roy added 22 and Taylor Wildes 10.

Massabesic’s leading scorer was Skylar Renaud with 17, while McKenzy Ouellette contributed 14 and Jacklyn Bearse 9.

The Mustangs jumped out to an early 8-2 run in the first quarter. From that point forward the Tigers used their height and physicality to control the paint and collect rebounds.

Biddeford chipped away at the lead for the remainder of the quarter and managed to pull ahead with a 13-11 lead heading into the second thanks to a late 8-0 run.

The Tigers came out strong in the second quarter and continued to dominate the inside as well as control the speed of the game.

Biddeford began the second going on a 9-2 run and entered halftime with a steady 30-22 lead.

The Mustangs were much more aggressive in the third quarter and regained some of the physicality under the hoop.

Not only were the Mustangs physical, but they played tight defense and were able to hold Biddeford to just six points in the quarter.

Biddeford coach Elizabeth Bell admitted her team’s struggles against the heavy defensive attack.

“In the first half we played with control and they played off of us defensively. They then came out in the third very aggressive defensively,” said Bell. “We knew they would, they have very aggressive guards and they play well defensively. They put a ton of pressure on us and were able to come back and make a game of it.”

The difference in the game was the Tigers’ free throw shooting. Biddeford shot 35-42 from the line including 15 straight free throws in the final quarter in which they went 18-20.

Bell made free throw shooting a point of emphasis after a rough start to the season.

“Early this year we were missing a lot of free throws so in practice we have really made a point to get to the line and practice our free throw shooting,” said Bell. “For them to shoot as well as they did tonight, kudos to them for going to the line, being focused and putting it in the basket.”

Massabesic coach Ian Ryan was impressed by Biddeford’s free throw shooting as well.

“Free throws will win basketball games. 18- 20 is pretty hard to overcome, so we will just have to play tighter defense and keep them off the line,” said Ryan.

Although the Tigers maintained control for much of the fourth, Massabesic was able to piece together an 11-4 run that eventually tied the score at 49 all with 1:19 remaining in the game.

The Tigers responded by sinking eight free throws in the final minute, securing the win late in the fourth quarter.

Bell sees Thursday’s game as both a learning experience and a confidence booster for her team.

“We started off slow but now that we have girls like Grace Martin and Brook Davis back from injury we are approaching the second half of the season completely differently,” said Bell. “A game like this is a big confidence booster, we need to still figure out good shot and bad shot, but that is an experience thing. Overall a game like this is a good experience for us.”

Ryan was disappointed with his team’s slow start in the contest.

“In the third they started to play like the team they are. We showed up in the first half without the intensity that is expected from them, but in the second half they tapped into that and made the game close,” said Ryan.

Moving forward, Ryan’s message to his team is simple.

“We just need to be quicker and faster on defense, be quicker and faster on both sides, that’s the key,” said Ryan.

— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at [email protected] or at 282- 1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.