BRUNSWICK

Brunswick High School girls basketball coach Sam Farrell knows his team has a big size advantage over “Battle of the Bridge” rival Mt. Ararat.

His Dragons bought in to the size matters philosophy on Saturday, outrebounding the smaller Eagles in a 62-38 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory, giving Brunswick a 14-3 mark.

Madeline Suhr led the charge for Farrell’s squad, scoring 10 of her 20 points in the opening quarter, pulling down 10 rebounds, blocking four shots and picking up four steals. Sabrina Armstrong, who also had 20 points, worked the outside, nailing three 3- pointers and dishing out four assists.

“When you do what you work on and what you talk about, it feels really good,” said Farrell, whose Dragons are slated to host Lewiston on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. “Madeline is such a good leader, and she shows it by how she plays.”

“We have been starting a little bit slow lately, and today we had to go out with a lot of hustle,” said Suhr after her Dragons led 18-3 through a quarter. “We moved the ball really well and got a bunch of good looks. We used our size a lot, posted up a lot. We did well.”

Mt. Ararat coach Andy Morris agreed that Brunswick’s size all over the court is tough for his smallish team to match up with.

“They are long, rangy, and I thought some of our close outs could have been better,” said Morris, whose Eagles hit the road for Medomak Valley tonight at 6:30 p.m. “When we got after them, they are just so tall. Suhr and Armstrong went off on us. We have to get a bit more intensity in the beginning of the game. We fought back a little bit, the second half was much better.”

Dragons out early

Mt. Ararat showed a full-court press early, but the Dragons broke it and Suhr stepped back and swished a 3-pointer right out of the gate. Seconds later, Suhr had another basket and Morris called a quick timeout.

“You want to be a team that when you get pressed you turn it into points. The last time we played them, they did well with the press, but we have grown up a lot since,” said Farrell.

An 11-0 run in the opening frame gave the Dragons a 16-1 lead before Mt. Ararat’s Ashley Parker hit the Eagles’ first field goal. Suhr found teammate Aidan Sachs for a bucket at the buzzer as the Dragons held a 15-point advantage after eight minutes.

Brunswick’s lead kept growing in the second quarter, with Armstrong scoring eight points as the Dragons claimed a 33-11 advantage at the intermission.

Mt. Ararat looked to respond to open the second half, with Katelyn Cox nailing a trey and Kate Guerin darting inside for two points.

However, it was just too much Brunswick on this day, as Suhr put up her final eight points, while Armstrong and Brooke Barter each hit a 3-pointer to give the Dragons a 52-18 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

Eagles guard Nikki Bradstreet, who hit eight 3- pointers against Lewiston on Thursday, was held in check by the defense of Charlotte MacMillan and Armstrong, with Bradstreet hitting two fourth-quarter treys to finish with six points.

“Nikki has been such a good player against us for four years, and we did a decent job on her,” said Farrell, who discussed the rivalry with the Eagles. “You never look at records when it is Mt. Ararat and Brunswick. Now we have Lewiston, another game where the records go out the window. That has become quite a rivalry. They are just tough and will attack you a bunch of different ways.”

For Morris, he was pleased to see some of his younger players step up.

“Some of the youth, Ainsley Bryant, Theresa Breed, Kyla Greenleaf hit some shots down the stretch,” said Morris, who received a team-high eight points from Greenleaf. “But, Brunswick is number two in this region for a reason. Their size is tough. It was rough inside for us against them.”

Barter chipped in nine points for Brunswick, with MacMillan picking up six steals and five rebounds. Sachs had eight boards and three assists. The Dragons out-rebounded the Eagles, 37-16 and forced 19 turnovers.

Brunswick 62,
Mt. Ararat 38

Saturday, at Brunswick
Mt.Ararat— 3 8 7 20 — 38
Brunswick — 18 15 19 10 — 62
Mt. Ararat — Lauren Labbay 0-0-
0, Nikki Bradstreet 2-0-6, Katelyn
Cox 2-1-6, Sabrina Paetow 0-1-1,
Kate Guerin 2-1-5, Kyla Greenleaf
2-4-8, Ashley Parker 1-0-2, Ainsley Bryant 1-2-4, Theresa Breed 1-
2-4, Caitlyn Smith 1-0-2. Totals —
12-11-38.
Brunswick — Charlotte MacMillan
1-2-4, Sabrina Armstrong 7-3-20,
Aidan Sachs 2-1-5, Brooke Barter
3-2-9, Madeline Suhr 7-4-20,
Alexis Guptill 0-0-0, Rian Sachs 0-
0-0, Rosalie White 0-2-2, Anna
Kousky 0-0-0, Heather Kinee 0-0-
0, Emily Larochelle 0-0-0,
Mackenzie Burrows 1-0-2, Holly
Black 0-0-0, MacKenzie Dorr 0-0-
0. Totals — 21-14-62.
3-point field goals — (MtA)
Bradstreet 2, Cox; (B) Armstrong
3, Suhr 2, Barter.
Records — Brunswick 14-3; Mt.
Ararat 3-13.
Up next for the Eagles — Tonight
at Medomak Valley, 6:30 p.m.
Up next for the Dragons — Tuesday at home vs. Lewiston, 6:30
p.m.