SOUTH PARIS – With seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter and with Mt. Blue ahead of Oxford Hills by 13, sophomore center Christina Mosher sat down on the sidelines to an extra ovation from the Cougars’ fans in the bleachers.
With four fouls, coach Jeannine Paradis figured her efforts would be best saved for the final few minutes.
Turned out that Oxford Hills couldn’t muster any offense with her on the sidelines, either.
With Mosher gobbling up almost every rebound (13 in all) within 10 feet of her 6-foot, 2-inch frame and with junior Amanda Laney getting hot after a few games of foul troubles, Mt. Blue shook off a charged up Vikings team early and cruised to a 52-40 win.
“We had a good run at them in the third quarter,” said Paradis. “With a younger team like we have, and at the level we were playing, they tired out a bit in the fourth, but we were able to hold on.”
After facing a 26-18 deficit at the half and a 40-23 hole to start the third, the Vikings (12-4) started the fourth on a run thanks to consecutive baskets from Kelsey Pelletier, T.C. Cole and Kittrena Moccia.
“On the whole it was a great defensive game from both teams,” said Oxford Hills Coach Craig Jipson. “When you can hold a team like that to 52 points, you’ve done well. In the end, when it came down to it, though, they won too many battles to loose balls. We definitely had a chance to make a run in the fourth. The press worked well all game and particularly in the fourth, and they seemed to get a bit tired.”
The Vikings clawed to within eight of the stumbling Cougars (14-3) with 1:17 to play in the quarter after Annie Foster sank two free throws on a play that could have been a three-point play had the officials allowed the basket that Foster made to count. The ruling, however, was that the ball was still in her hands and that she was not in the act of shooting. Mt. Blue was in the bonus, though, and Foster sank her two throws.
The next smart play went to Mt. Blue, though, and it may have changed the game.
With about one minute to play, the lead was still at seven when Bonnie Silkman dove after a loose ball in the corner of the court. A Viking defender also dove, and the two grappled momentarily before Silkman managed to call a timeout.
“The possession arrow was in their favor at the time,” said Paradis. “That was just a great heads-up play. Even I didn’t know what she was doing at first, but it was the right play.”
Mt. Blue, then, kept possession of the ball on an inbounds pass rather than deferring to Oxford Hills. The Cougars scored and the teams traded baskets the rest of the way.
Laney had 14 points, including three three-pointers, and Silkman finished with 15 to lead all scorers. Mosher finished with 12 points, most of which were second-chance put-back underneath.
“We’re right about where we wanted to be at this point,” said Paradis.
Foster led the Vikings with 10 points and eight different players scored for Oxford Hills. Foster also grabbed a team-high five boards.
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