BRUNSWICK – There was no doubt about the preseason favorite in the KVAC.

With most of its squad returning from last year’s tourney team, Brunswick was the consensus preseason pick, and the Dragons have certainly lived up to those expectations.

Thursday night, Oxford Hills, the defending Eastern A champs, made a “Don’t Forget About Us” statement with an impressive 52-42 win over Brunswick.

Brunswick (8-2) claimed a narrow victory in the season opener against Oxford Hills and have since risen to the top seeding in Eastern A.

“This is a big win,” said senior guard Lauren Brett. “We actually heard that Brunswick was saying how they were going to beat us and that they can’t lose to us. We just showed them that we could beat them.”

Brett led Oxford Hills (9-1) with 15 points while Melanie Cloutier added 13.

“We’re definitely getting better and better every game,” said Brett. “We’re starting to look like the team we were last year. We’ll definitely going to get better if we keep working.”

The Vikings got stronger as the game wore on and had Brunswick frustrated and out of sync offensively. Oxford Hills tenacious defense and hustle complimented its balance on the offensive end.

“The key is execution,” said Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier. “All year we’ve struggled with that. We missed layups here and missed layups there. Today, it finally came together execution-wise. You can see how good we can play when we want to.”

Though Brunswick has the size advantage, the Vikings out-battled the Dragons in the paint. Megan Joyce and Laura Courcy were superb on the boards and neutralized Brunswick strength inside. Joyce finished with eight points and eight rebounds while Courcy added seven points and eight rebounds.

“Rebounding was key for us,” said Pelletier. “They’re a big team. (Courcy) works her butt off. She’s an undersized post player, but she acts like she’s the biggest kid out there. She doesn’t really care who she’s shooting against. If she gets blocked three or four times, she keeps going back up. She gets rebound after rebound, and that’s what you want.”

The Vikings’ post play opened things up for Brett and Cloutier outside. Brett had nine points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers while Cloutier had 11 in the second half, including one 3-pointer.

“We started getting it inside because once we get it inside they were going to pack us down,” said Brett. “That would give us the inside-out look for the 3.”

Brunswick got 13 from Claire Baecher and 12 from Hilary Champagne, but the Dragons struggled to find consistency. The Dragons shot 3-for-12 in each of the last two quarters.

“I think this time we didn’t have the same level of desire we had the first time,” said Brunswick coach Rita Maines. “I thought we seemed a little flat.”

Down 19-15 in the second, the Viking rallied to take a 22-19 lead at the half. Courcy had a three-point play. Then Cloutier and Brett each scored on drives to the hoop.

“We definitely had a lot of confidence after that,” said Brett.

After 17 turnovers in the first half, the Vikings had just two in the third quarter. Oxford Hills missed its first eight shots but got free throws from Joyce, Cloutier and Courcy to maintain the lead. Brunswick got a 3-pointer from Mariah George to cut the lead to 30-26, but Lindsay Fox scored on a drive and Brett hit a 3-pointer for a 35-26 advantage.

A 7-1 run to open the fourth made it 42-39. Cloutier hit a 3-pointer and scored on a rebound while Joyce finished off a Cloutier steal. Brunswick’s defensive play intensified, and the Dragons cut the lead to 43-36, but the Vikings got a 3-pointer and a fast break from Brett and free throws by Cloutier to seal it.