LIVERMORE FALLS – Basketball in the early going will test your stamina, challenge your ball-handling skills and try your patience.

The defending Class C state champions opened the new season Monday night, but had to battle through a sloppy night of basketball to earn a 67-50 win over Livermore Falls.

“I’m happy that we came down to get a win,” said Mt. Abram coach Doug Lisherness. “We had not been playing well.”

The two teams combined for 19 fouls and 50 turnovers in the first half alone. The Roadrunners had enough experience and the play of Kenni Norton to open up a lead that the Andies could not overcome.

Norton finished with a career-high 25 points. Mikayla Burbank added 12 for Mt. Abram, while Morgan Cummings and Ella Fast added nine and eight respectively.

Livermore Falls (1-1) was led by Esther Bizier with 13 and Missi O’Connor with 10. Katherynn Lake chipped in nine.

“We’re young,” said Livermore Falls coach Frank Donald, who has just one senior on his club. “You’ve got to love the effort. The thing about us is we’re young, but it’s good young talent. At times we didn’t have a senior on the floor, and at times, we had three or four freshmen out there.”

The Andies were plagued by turnovers, especially in the second quarter when Mt. Abram turned a 19-14 lead into a 39-24 advantage. Livermore Falls had 15 of its 30 first half turnovers in the second quarter and went the first 5:48 without a field goal.

“A lot of it was off that press,” said Donald. “Early, when we scored, we set up our press and it worked fairly well. We just didn’t get enough scores to keep it on.”

The Roadrunners had 20 turnovers in the first half but still managed to get some easy baskets off its defensive pressure. Norton led the charge with 17 of her points in the first half. Mt. Abram got a balanced shooting attack from the outside as well. Though the Roadrunners have Janessa Thomas inside, the Andies did a decent job defending her and keeping the ball out of the post. In the second quarter, the Roadrunners got perimeter shots from Cummings, Norton, Burbank and Kylie Rolbiecki. It was the best offensive spurt of the game for Mt. Abram, and it was enough to build the lead.

“With our style of play, hopefully by Christmas we can get ourselves in shape enough to maintain some good basketball the whole game,” said Lisherness. “Right now, we can’t.”

Still, the Roadrunners were plagued by turnovers and an abundance of fouls. The Andies scored 14 points from the foul line. Mt. Abram also wore down in the end.

“The only way to get into shape is to keep playing this type of ball,” said Lisherness. “Press and run and it will happen after a while.”

Three-pointers by Norton and Burbank in the third had the lead up to 51-31. The Andies made a surge in the final quarter, using a 10-2 run that got them as close as 12.

“Your not happy with a loss, but we’re happy with the way they played,” said Donald. “It’s early on in the year, but if we get that kind of effort and they learn from their mistakes we feel good enough to maybe make a run at one of those bottom playoff spots.”