DIXFIELD — When Jay girls’ basketball squad decides to play as a team, the Tigers can be extremely dangerous.

The trio of Hilary Deane, Beth Moore, Alexis Blodgett combined to score 39 points as the Tigers simply displayed excessive fire power in a convincing 54-29 win against Dirigo at Defoe Gymnasium on Thursday night.

Jay (6-2), defending Class C state champions, jumped ahead early and never looked back. A pair of big runs in the middle quarters propelled the Tigers to a double-digit lead at half time and 41-18 at the end of three quarters. Deane led all scorers with a game-high 14 and Blodgett had 13, including four 3-pointers. Moore, who is the leading rebounder in the MVC, had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“We shot the ball well,” said Jay coach Chris Bessey, who has won six of seven games. “When we get on a roll, they can be dangerous, and that’s what happened tonight. We can run with the ball and have the option of shooting from the perimeter or from down low in the paint.”

Dirigo (6-3) couldn’t put forth a consistent effort and hurt itself by hitting five of 23 shots in the middle quarters. Ricki Sinclair scored a team-high seven points, while Trish Turner, Jane Hebert and Hannah Knight each had six points.

Jay led 13-11 early in the second quarter and scored 10 unanswered points. Deane scored from inside and sank a pair of free throws. Blodgett buried two 3-pointers from the left baseline. She had five treys against Carrabec on Tuesday.

“The flow of the game fit in to what we want to do with the ball,” Bessey said. “It provided us with numerous options on offense. We also handled the ball well and didn’t commit many turnovers.”

Dirigo’s Aylssa Wade and Knight scored the first two of the second quarter, but nine missed shots proved costly. The Cougars finally scored on a Hebert jumper with 45 seconds left in the first half.

Dirigo was anticipating coming out strong in the game after having beaten Mountain Valley 31-28 two days earlier.

Sinclair and Mallory Bonnevie (nine points) traded 3-pointers to open the second half, but Jay delivered a message with a 14-0 run. Moore scored twice inside, Blodgett buried two treys and Bonnevie (who sported a black eye from a poke) stole the ball and scored.

Dirigo coach Reggie Weston tried to ignite a spark by inserting five junior varsity players. The Cogars made one of four free throws and didn’t go to the line in the second half.

The Cougars shot 35 percent from the floor and had 17 turnovers.

“The MVC is pretty balanced,” Bessey said. “There have been some low scores. It has been hard for teams to break 30 points. I’d like to think it’s because of good defense.”

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