WINTHROP – The Winthrop girls’ basketball team didn’t shoot the lights out Saturday night.

That’s because the gym lights at the high school went dark long before the varsity game. After a delay that halted the junior varsity action and pushed back the varsity start time, the gym lights slowly flickered their way back on and eventually came to life.

That’s kind of what the Rambler offense did as Winthrop opened the season with a 55-48 win over Livermore Falls.

Winthrop offense came to life in the second half and opened up the lead. The Ramblers then held off a late charge by the Andies.

“As long as we play as a team and keep pushing hard, we do very well,” said Winthrop senior forward Lindsay Gordon, who had eight of Winthrop’s 10 points during one second half stretch.

The win marked a victorious return for long-time coach Ray Convery, who returned to the program this year. It was also a significant win for a team that won just four games last year.

“It’s awesome,” said Gordon, who finished with a game-high 18 points. “It’s incredible. It gives us a boost as we get ready for the next one.”

Kelsey Ouellette added 16 for Winthrop while Nicki Scott chipped in 12. Livermore Falls was led by Marissa Welch with 12 and Missi O’Connor’s 11.

The Andies were playing with just eight players and were missing two starters, Laura Howell and Hannah Therrien. Both were involved in a Drama Club play Saturday night. As a result, Livermore Falls battled foul trouble all evening and had two starters foul out and two other players finished the game with four.

“That’s a killer,” said Livermore Falls coach Frank Donald. “It’s a totally different situation if those guys are here. We don’t get into the foul trouble with pressure. We put more on the boards. We could pound it inside. They’re both post players. So we didn’t have much of an inside game tonight.”

Winthrop had the lead for much of the first half but couldn’t shake the Andies. The lead was only as great as six points. In the third after a Kendra Lyman rebound tied the game, the Ramblers got the offensive run it needed. Winthrop finished the quarter with five straight points to build a 40-35 lead.

Kelsey Nason converted a feed from Scott. Nason then fed Gordon on the press breaker and added a free throw late in the quarter.

“We started spreading the floor and running the press breaker a lot better,” said Convery. “We got our heads up and got some pretty easy shots.”

Gordon opened the fourth with a basket off an Ouellette pass. After a Lyman basket, Ouellette had a layup and Gordon hit a free throw for a 45-37 lead.

“We just picked up the intensity and worked hard as a team and pushed it at them,” said Gordon.

With O’Connor and Annika Durrell both fouling out, the Ramblers appeared to have things in control, but Winthrop missed some baskets and free throws giving Andies life. Kathryn Lake led the charge with four straight points. After a Lyman free throw and a Welch rebound ended a 7-0 run, Livermore was within 47-46 with 2:10 left.

The Ramblers got crucial free throws in the final minutes from Scott and Ouellette to seal it.

“I told them I’m big time proud,” said Donald. “There was no quit. no excuses. “We did what we could with what we had.”