It was a sound strategy, as the Red Eddies earned a win in a hard-fought defensive battle, 46-38, over Brunswick in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference girls’ basketball tussle on Friday.

EL forced 26 turnovers and held the Dragons to a season-low in points, trapping Brunswick in its defensive zone on several occasions.

“They attack everything, and if don’t you attack back and play on your heels, you are going to give them a huge advantage,” Brunswick coach Sam Farrell said. “We had the height, but they had that hunger.”

EL coach Craig Jipson had nothing but praise for Brunswick.

“Brunswick is one of the best Class A teams, and they are as athletic as anybody,” said Jipson after his squad improved to 4-2. “For us to come in here and get a win, we know they will win 14 or 15 games. This is huge for us. Brunswick is the real deal and may be the best team that we will play this season.”

It was a third-quarter surge that turned the tide EL’s way. Trailing 17-15 at the half, the Red Eddies scored 18 points in the third quarter, led by seven from Jade Perry and six from inside presence Jordyn Reynolds. Brunswick committed eight turnovers in the frame and trailed 33-30 through 24 minutes.

On top of that, leading Brunswick scorer Sabrina Armstrong (20 points) picked up her fourth foul late in the quarter and watched the first five minutes of the fourth quarter from the bench.

In the final frame, Grace Fontaine hit a key 3-pointer for a 39-34 EL lead, and moments later swished a short jumper to make for a 41-34 contest with 2:42 remaining.

“We stay focused and were just really good at defense,” said Fontaine, who had 13 points and forced three steals for EL. “This is a big win for us. Our defense led to our scoring in the second half, and that made a big difference.”

“We played great defense, and it kept us in the game. We went from there,” Jipson said.

Brunswick stayed in the game thanks to EL’s troubles at the free-throw line. The Red Eddies were just 10-of-23 from the line when Armstrong nailed a 3-pointer and was fouled for a rare four-point play. The basket brought the Dragons to 41-38 with 57 seconds remaining in regulation.

But, Perry and Piper Norcross calmly sank two free throws each down the stretch and the Red Eddie defense shut Brunswick’s offense down the rest of the way.

Defensive first half

Neither team found much of a flow in the early going. The first point was scored more than three minutes into the contest — a free throw by Brunswick’s Rian Sachs. One minute later, Aidan Sachs made the game’s first field goal.

EL didn’t score a field goal until Reynolds put back her own miss with 2:41 remaining in the quarter for a 4-3 lead.

Fontaine made her first 3-pointer for a 7-5 EL advantage, and Reynolds scored inside to make for a 9-6 game after eight minutes.

Brunswick found its rhythm in the second quarter, scoring 11 quick points for a 17-9 lead, forcing Jipson to call two timeouts.

“When we played relaxed and moved the ball, we got scoring opportunities,” Farrell said.

EL held the Dragons without a point over the final four minutes of the half and clawed back into the game with a 6-0 spurt. Norcross scored four points, all from the free-throw line, with Reynolds making her team’s only hoop.

Armstrong had 10 points at the half to lead all scorers, with Reynolds putting in six points and pulling down seven rebounds.

After 12 first-half turnovers, the Dragons committed 14 more in the second half and watched EL hand them their second loss (5-2).

“Basketball is all about making plays. We were making the wrong play and it turned into points for them,” Farrell said.

Reynolds paced EL with a double-double — 14 points, 12 boards — while Perry scored all eight of her points in the second half. Chantelle Ouellette was a defensive standout for EL, coming off the bench to force five turnovers.

Copy the Story Link