SOUTH PARIS – Nate Pelletier was pretty sure his team would find its shooting touch eventually.

The Oxford Hills girls’ basketball coach just wasn’t sure when it would happen.

During the first three games of the season, the Vikings struggled to get consistent offense. The shots were available but not falling regularly, but that changed Tuesday night in a 60-53 win over Morse.

“I know we have the shooters,” said Pelletier. “We just have to get more repetitions in practice and more repetitions in the games. Some of them came alive tonight. It was great because they played a zone, and we had to shoot.”

Terry Bunce led the Vikings with a career-high 26 points. Lauren Brett added 12 while Kari Pelletier and Alley Fox chipped in nine and seven points respectively.

“I think we’ve just been working on shooting a lot, and we worked better as a team” said Brett. “I think as we work better as a team, we’ll play to our potential and have good games like this.”

It was a valuable win for the unbeaten Vikings. The Shipbuilders are expected to battle Oxford Hills for playoff positioning in Eastern A.

“It’s really important to us,” said Brett, whose team plays Cony Thursday. “This is one of our toughest weeks. So we’re looking forward to Thursday now.”

The Vikings opened a one-point lead with a strong third quarter. Oxford Hills shot 6-for-8 from the floor and built a nine-point lead. Bunce, who sent the Vikings into the half with a 3-pointer from halfcourt at the buzzer, had 14 in the third quarter including two 3-pointers. Fox also hit a 3-pointer. That was after the Vikings shot 7-for-13 in the second quarter.

“We hadn’t gotten that as of late,” said Pelletier. “Hopefully it stays that way the rest of the year. I know we have great shooters. All of our guards can shoot the ball. We had a lot of go in and go out type of things.”

Morse, on the other hand, struggled in the second half. The Shipbuilders started the third quarter hitting just two of its first nine shots and went 5-for-15 in the quarter. After sinking just two of its first 12 shots in the fourth, Morse shot just 4-for-17.

The Vikings post players took full advantage. Though the Shipbuilders scored in the paint effectively in the second, the Vikings took that away and got stellar performances on the boards from Fox, Kyla Martin, Megan Joyce and Katie Martin in the second half. After falling behind, Morse had to press and force up shots, and the Vikings often held them to just one shot per trip.

“In the locker room, I wasn’t very nice to my post players, but I tell you what, it made them step up,” said Pelletier. “They got every single rebound they needed to get. They did everything I asked them to do.”

Jill Henrikson led Morse with 17 while Kate Ross had 12. After five straight points by Henrikson to start the fourth, the Shipbuilders were within three but a basket by Pelletier and free throws from Brett padded the lead. Morse never got closer than five the rest of the way.


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