By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

JAY – As disappointing a loss as it was, the Telstar girls’ basketball team still had hopes of taking some positives out of Thursday’s two-point loss to Dirigo.

The Rebels hoped to learn from mistakes and respond against Jay Saturday night. It was a lesson well learned in a 39-30 victory over the Tigers.

“The loss to Dirigo was a hard loss,” said Telstar guard Liz Rosenberg. “We just wanted to come in here and do well because we didn’t want to have two losses in a row. We used that momentum and tried to make them play our game.”

Telstar (10-3) opened up a double-digit lead in the first half and had the Tigers down by as many as 31-13 in the third. Jay’s offense, which struggled for three quarters, produced in the final quarter and trimmed the deficit. Jay shot 5-for-35 in the first three quarters and began those quarters going 0-for-6, 0-for-8 and 0-for-9 respectively.

“You couldn’t ask for better shots than what we got,” said Jay coach Chris Bessey. “We had our share of uncontested costs. You don’t expect them to make every one, but when you get four or five uncontested shots and you don’t make any of them, it’s going to be a long night.”

Telstar’s Jillian Kimball had nine points and eight rebounds while Josie Reiss added seven. Kelsey Dole and Lindsay Hart each added six. The Rebels had seven players score at lead three points and combined to haul in nearly 40 rebounds.

“That’s one of the keys to our team,” said Telstar coach Kelly Dole. “You can’t try to stop one person. Everyone’s going to contribute, even in their own way. Maybe our high scorer had nine points, but we had seven kids who scored, and that’s been really important to us.”

Jay (9-4) didn’t have that kind of balance. Kaylie DeMillo led the Tigers with 23 points. Only Brianna Beisaw, coming off the bench, also had a field goal. Rosenberg did a fine defensive job on DeMillo allowing few uncontested shots. When Jay did get a shot, the Rebels often controlled the boards.

“It was just a lot of help defense,” said Rosenberg. “I wanted to keep myself between her and the basket. She has a fast pull-up on the 3, but we got lucky tonight because she didn’t hit as many as she usually does. She’s a tough player to play against, but it’s a matter of just moving your feet.”

Telstar’s seven straight points in the first quarter opened up a lead, and the Rebels maintained that advantage as the Tigers struggled offensively. After a 20-9 lead at the half, the Rebels opened the third with eight straight points. Telstar went the final 9:29 without scoring a field goal, but Jay’s rally came up short in the final quarter. The Tigers closed to within 33-23 with 5:31, but failed on three tries to get within eight. When Kristen Adams hit a pair of free throws to make it 33-25 with 2:08 left, the Rebels answered with free throws from Kimball, Rosenberg and Dole down the stretch.

“Even though it’s a 10-point game, we get someone to the foul line for two shots and we missed both,” said Bessey. “They come down and hit both of theirs.”