DIXFIELD – After a pair of Jillian Kimball jumpers stoked the Telstar offense, the Dirigo girls’ basketball team said: “Enough.”

The Rebels’ offense went dry after the early field goals from Kimball in the first quarter Monday night. Dirigo used that drought to pull away early as the Cougars remained unbeaten with a 64-43 win.

“They took our post game away,” said Telstar coach Aaron Bean. “I don’t know if we got one basket in our low post. Then they took the outside game away, and without the inside game, we had nothing.”

Dirigo used a 10-0 run midway through the opening quarter, turning a 6-4 lead into double digits. Telstar did a nice job handling Dirigo’s pressure at times, but with the post sealed off and the outside shot taken away, the Rebels couldn’t find an offensive answer. After Kimball’s second basket with 6:31 left, Telstar didn’t score again until Krystle Gould made a basket with 1:17 remained.

“It sounds simple, but our defensive philosophy is to force the tough shot and to block out and then go get the ball,” said Dirigo coach Gavin Kane. “I thought we did a good job limiting them to one opportunity for the most part.”

A game Telstar club came out going toe-to-toe-with Dirigo from the start, but the Cougars’ intensity proved too much for the young Rebels to keep pace.

“They wore us down,” said Bean.

“We still have our little flashbacks. We get on a roll and cut the lead and then next thing you know, we get on a bad roll. We’re gaining.”

Dirigo’s offense had a fine night. Alexa Kaubris led the Cougars with 21 points, nine assists, six steals and rebounds. Jennifer Harvey had 18, including three 3’s. Michelle Holmquist added 11 while Brooke Weston had 10.

“We’ve had our issues with our offense,” said Harvey. “Hopefully, we’ll gain more confidence. We’re looking forward to what is to come.”

Telstar was led by Ashley Stambolis with 10. Abby Wentworth added nine.

Harvey helped spark the Cougars early with her outside shooting. She had eight points in the first quarter as Dirigo built an 18-10 lead. She started the 10-0 run on a press-breaker. Holmquist scored on a leaner, and Weston fed Holly Knight for a hoop for a 12-4 lead. Knight finished with 11 rebounds. After a Holmquist free throw, Harvey hit her second 3 of the quarter for a 16-4 lead.

“I think it just really helped us,” said Harvey. “I know it really helps the crowd get into it and as a player that really gets me pumped. It made us come out stronger offensively and more confident.”

Though Dirigo had a brief drought to start the second quarter, free throws by Knight and Kaubris helped pad the lead and another Harvey 3 helped increase the lead to as many as 17 points.

The Cougars really got rolling to start the third, scoring eight straight points. Kaubris poured it on with 15 points in the second half, including eight straight in the fourth quarter.

“It’s been a big focus in practice to improve on the offensive end of the floor,” said Kane. “I feel we did have better movement and got everybody involved offensively. Jenn Harvey had a great game for us offensively.”

Telstar’s outside shot came to life in the second half as Kimball, Wentworth, Chea Davis and Stambolis all hit shots.

“People keep asking me: ‘What are you going to do special,'” said Bean. “I told my girls that we’re not doing anything special. We’re going to do the same things game after game. We’re not going to change and then play scared. We’re going to play our game, and if we play a complete game of our game, I think we can play with them.”

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