BUCKFIELD — The red faces and the hands reaching for hips during every stoppage in play hinted that Rangeley might be out of fuel.

Instead, the undermanned Lakers hit the accelerator Tuesday night and escaped town with a 36-25 East-West Conference girls’ basketball victory over Buckfield.

Reduced by injury and illness to six players — two of them eighth-graders — Rangeley (5-1) scored the final 10 points and held Buckfield (1-4) scoreless for the final 6:44.

“It’s hard to beat a team,” Rangeley coach Heidi Deery said. “In the situation that we’re in, we have to play as a team. We can’t rely on one person to get the job done.”

Four different players scored during the Lakers’ finishing kick.

Chantal Carrier scored twice and made three steals in the fourth quarter. She finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven thefts.

Carrier’s sister, Emily, banked in her third 3-pointer of the night with 3:55 remaining.

“The Carrier girls come to play every night,” Deery said. “They may not always be perfect, but they work hard and they want to win and they play to win.”

One of Rangeley’s junior-high students, Taylor Esty, contributed seven points and 14 rebounds as a spot starter.

Sierra Marchacos (four assists) and Abby Abbott (five second-half points) also pitched in and signaled another frustrating finish for the Bucks.

Two of Buckfield’s previous losses were two-point games.

“The last three or four minutes we lost our momentum. I’m just so proud of the way the girls put themselves out there and how far we’ve come from last year,” Buckfield coach Annette Caldwell said. “We need to get a little more composure and play with the lead in a few more games so we can build that.”

Sophomore Danielle Patrie led Buckfield with seven points and four steals. Ally Martin added six points. Kaitlyn Rines scored five, including a late 3-point play to make it a 14-all halftime tie.

Buckfield held Rangeley without a field goal for almost 11 minutes, including the entire second quarter, to stay within striking distance.

The Bucks stayed afloat mostly without senior tri-captain Sami Jones, who picked up her third foul a minute into the second period.

Jones finished with three points.

“That was a big difference, because she’s a big scorer for us,” Caldwell said. “If we could have kept her in the game, we would have been in it to the buzzer.”

Jones fouled out with 5:31 remaining and Rangeley on top by only two, 27-25.

Esty hit the first of two free throws after her own steal in that exchange to make it a 3-point lead. Emily Carrier’s 3-pointer soon followed.

Marchacos dished the ball inside to Chantal Carrier and Abbott for two more baskets to apply the finishing touch.

Rangeley lost all-conference point guard Allie Hammond for the season to a knee injury suffered during soccer season. Starting center Jenney Abbott was absent Tuesday due to strep throat.

“If we can get healthy I think we’ll be alright, but we can’t have any more sickness or injury or foul trouble.” Deery said.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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