SANFORD— Thanks to an early offensive surge, the Sanford girls basketball team defeated Biddeford 56-32 in Sanford on Wednesday night.

Leading the charge for Sanford was junior guard Summer Camire who finished with 17 points. Sanford had eight different players score a basket in the contest.

Charlotte White led the Tigers in scoring with 14 points, while senior Erin Martin added six.

The Spartans immediately attacked the Tigers, shooting from all angles of the court.

Four of the first five Sanford scores came from 3- pointers, three of which were scored by Camire.

Sharp shooting early on, along with a stingy defensive effort allowed Sanford to jump out to a quick 16-3 lead and finished the quarter up 21-8.

Sanford coach Tracy Lizotte attributed her teams shooting success to their focus.

“Our shooting success was mental. I have always said that basketball in 80 percent mental, 20 percent physical,” said Lizotte. “I have only been with these girls for a few weeks and I run a different system than what they are used to. I told them as long as we work hard and learn from our mistakes we will do well.”

Both teams played much tighter defense in the second. Each defense applied heavy pressure in the paint, and many shots led to physical rebounds beneath the hoop.

Sanford managed to maintain a 32-15 lead heading into halftime.

The third quarter was also close, with each team playing refreshed after the break. Each team took numerous shots while also causing havoc in each end, leading to both the Spartans and Tigers finishing the third quarter scoring 12 points.

The Spartans kicked their play up a notch in the final eight minutes, and once again had an offensive explosion in which they outscored the Tigers 12-5, with all five of the Biddeford’s point coming from free throws.

Lizotte feels that her team is confident in themselves so far this season.

“Right now we have confidence, the girls realize their potential and what they can do,” said Lizotte. “That was our talk before the game, we wanted to play our game and not worry about who would win or lose.”

Although Sanford controlled most of the game, Lizotte saw a few things that she felt her team could have done better with, including turnovers.

“We still had a high turnover rate which needs to improve, but there are going to be highs and lows every season. Each practice, each game will be about getting one step closer to where we have to be,” said Lizotte.

Next up is Scarborough, and Lizotte is hoping that her team’s positive mindset will carry over in what should be a competitive match.

“This win is a confidence booster for us. Hopefully we can pick up some steam moving forward,” said Lizotte. “Scarborough is a young team, but they’re a wild card. We will have to come ready to play.

— 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.