AUBURN – When the Brunswick and Edward Little girls hooked up Tuesday night, their KVAC basketball game had a little bit of everything.

The Dragons opened up a 22-3 lead in the first four-plus minutes of the game and had to withstand a ferocious comeback by the Red Eddies to escape with a wild 61-58 victory.

One week after holding the powerful Cony Rams to less than 40 points, the Red Eddies (2-2) were barraged early by the Dragons’ offense. All five starters contributed to the score sheet in the opening quarter on a 12-of-15 shooting performance from the field.

“It was awesome,” said Brunswick coach Rita Maines of the frenetic start by her team. “It felt great.”

Forward Danyel Cousins scored eight of her 13 points in the quarter while guard Courtney Coffill connected for seven. The Dragons (2-1) drained a pair of three pointers, converted off transition and scored just about every way imaginable as they took a 26-9 lead heading into the second quarter.

Edward Little coach Craig Jipson used a pair of early timeouts in an attempt to slow the momentum. Somehow, he was able to keep his team composed.

“We talked in the huddle not to come back with one shot,” said Jipson. “With games like this, Brunswick played not to lose. We had nothing to lose.”

The Red Eddies began their comeback by pressing defensively and pounding away inside on the offensive end. Kelsey Nicolas and Brittney French were demons on the offensive boards. Both forwards scored 19 points, but their intensity down low forced the Dragons into foul trouble early in the second quarter.

Point guard Brooke Maines, along with fellow starters Coffill and Cousins, found herself sitting after the fouls began piling up. Maines saw limited action in the second half and fouled out with 5:29 left in the fourth quarter. Cousins joined her less than two minutes later after picking up her fifth foul.

The Red Eddies shot 29-37 from the foul line, led by French’s 11-of-14 shooting from the charity stripe. She was also successful on her last eight attempts.

“We had to get inside and score without taking time off the clock,” said Jipson. “Brittney and Kelsey really battled all night.”

Brunswick led 44-35 after three quarters. Four free throws and a 12-foot, baseline jumper by French helped close the gap to five points. Nicolas matched her teammate with four foul shots and converted an offensive rebound and with 3:37 left, the Dragons’ lead was down to 50-49.

Moments later, Allie Forgues kissed in a 3-pointer from the wing to tie the game at 52-52. But a lay-in by reserve point guard Jacki Kelly and another drive to the hoop by Coffill opened up a four-point lead for the visitors soon after and sophomore center Claire Baecher (a team-high 14 points) sank a pair of foul shots to extend the lead to six.

The Red Eddies would close to 61-58, but a desperation 3-point attempt from the corner by Forgues in the waning seconds fell harmlessly short.

“We have a pretty deep team,” said Baecher. “We’re comfortable with each other and we kept it under control.”

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