By Bob McPhee,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – The Mt. Blue High School girls’ basketball team certainly don’t mind challenges.

The Cougars passed the test by holding their composure down the stretch in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference game Friday night. Sophomore Christina Mosher scored a game-high 18 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the offense, but a daring defensive play by Ashley Weeks helped seal the deal as Mt. Blue held on for a 37-34 win against Messalonkee.

Mt. Blue was clinging to a 36-34 lead, but the Eagles ran their motion offense in an attempt to set up a scoring opportunity. Amanda Barker drove down the lane, but Weeks stepped forward to take an offensive charge with 5.7 seconds left in the game. A last-second shot by Barker was an air ball.

“This was a big test for us,” Mt. Blue coach Jeannie Paradis said. “But I think we proved that our (8-1) record is no fluke. Ashley Weeks stepped up big defensively, but she’s a three-year varsity starter and really makes some good decisions.”

Mt. Blue had taken a 33-29 lead on a 3-pointer by Amy Mansir, but then had to battle the pesky Eagles throughout the remaining fourth quarter. Mosher scored a basket on a spin move and then added a free throw. The Cougars won the game by making 11 of 26 from the charity stripe.

“Our strategy down the stretch was not to throw the ball away,” Paradis said. “We wanted to be patient with the ball, keep our passing game going and continue to make good decisions.” Messalonskee (5-3) led 19-16 at halftime and was led by the play of twin sisters Amanda and Chelsea Barker (nine points).

“All we did was try not to make mistakes,” Messalonskee coach John Donato said. “But this is a young team (eight sophomores), and I didn’t think that we handled the pressure very well. The crowd and atmosphere got to us.” Mt. Blue had rallied back to take a 30-22 lead behind a 9-1 run in the third quarter. Amanda Laney started things with a free throw and Sandra Moloney (eight assists) scored the next six points. Laney made two free throws, scored off a steal and also made a driving layup. Bonnie Silkman buried a jump shot.

Each team committed 18 turnovers, but the shooting was quite dismal. Messalonskee shot 31 percent and Mt. Blue 25 was percent from the floor

“We felt good at halftime,” Paradis said. “Three points was easy to make up. We just needed to get our passing game going. The difference on defense was the fact that we ran seven different ones and changed on the fly.”