Spruce Mountain’s Calley Baker (32) looks to pass the ball as teammate Emily White (11) looks on during a Class B South preliminary game in Jay on Wednesday night. (Tony Blasi/Sun Journal)
JAY — Spruce Mountain deliberately took its time and and eventually banished No. 9 Sacopee Valley (3-16) with a 47-19 victory in a Class B South girls’ basketball preliminary game at the Phoenix Dome on Wednesday night.
The win gives eighth-ranked Spruce (10-9) reservations at the Portland Expo for Tuesday’s quarterfinal game against No. 1 Gray-New Gloucester (14-4) at 2:30 p.m.
The Phoenix knew things were going their way by halftime with a 22-5 lead. Spruce’s offense opened up on the Hawks in the first quarter and built a 11-0 lead.
Spruce’s defense was stingy and didn’t allow the Hawks to score a basket until the second quarter when Brenna Humphrey scored with 4:54 left in the first half.
But there was no question the Phoenix were taking it slow and easy against Sacopee Valley.
“Offensively, definitely, with the idea getting good shots every possession,” Spruce Mountain coach Zachary Keene said. “If we had an opportunity to play fast, I wanted them to. But if we didn’t get anything out of transition, I wanted to make sure we got into sets and we were able execute something and get organized. We did a good job of that.”
Junior forward Haley Turcotte was tough on the boards and equally devastating on the perimeter, tossing in three 3-pointers and the game-high15 points. She also went 4-for-5 at the charity stripe.
Senior forward and co-captain Hanna St. Pierre was her usual determined self with numerous drives to the basket. She ended up throwing in 11 points.
“I told them after that this is the first time all year I could up and down the lineup and talk about all of them,” Keene said. “Hailee Perkins was great on the boards. Hanna brought great energy. Morgan (Dalton) got us organized. Turcotte did her thing. It was good across the board.”
By the third quarter, the Phoenix were biding their time with a 33-13 cushion.
“They might be 3-15, but they played some good teams and they are better than a 3-15 team because they lost a lot of closer games,” Keene said. “But really it was about how we prepared all week. Coming off the two losses at the end of of the year, we just had to play better. They knew that and luckily tonight they did.”
Spruce Mountain’s Hanna St. Pierre smiles as she goes up for a shot against Sacopee Valley during a Class B South preliminary game in Jay on Wednesday night.Spruce Mountain’s Hailee Perkins (34) goes up for a shot as Sacopee Valley’s Emma Hartford (21) and the Phoenix’s Hanna St. Pierre look on during a Class B South preliminary game in Jay on Wednesday night.Spruce Mountain’s Emily Goding (14) goes up for a shot against Sacopee Valley’s Kllie Day (00) during a Class B South preliminary game in Jay on Wednesday night.
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