LEWISTON — The Lewiston-Auburn Maples started their inaugural WABA season off on a high note on Sunday afternoon at the Lewiston Armory.
With a dominant 83-39 win against the New England Trailblazers, the Maples earned their first victory in their first regular-season game in the Women’s American Basketball Association.
The Maples were led by Kaitlyn Mathieu and Kayla Vangelist, who poured in 23 points and 17 points, respectively.
Jessica Conant also chipped in with 12 points, and Allie Goodman ran the show for the Maples at the point guard position, scoring nine points and dishing out numerous assists.
The Maples fell behind 8-6 early in the first quarter, but a 15-4 run gave them a 21-12 lead by the end of the period.
Back-to-back Vangelist buckets gave the Maples a 12-8 lead, and then a Goodman 3-pointer put the Maples up 15-8.
Another Vangelist layup pushed the lead to 17-8, and then a Trailblazers 3-pointer from Allexia Barrows finally put an end to the Maples scoring onslaught.
With a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter, the Maples never let control of the game out of their grasp.
The Trailblazers, with only five players suited up, were unable to endure the pressure defense of the Maples, scoring only eight points in both the second and third quarters.
Meanwhile, the Trailblazers played a 2-3 zone defense throughout the game, but the Maples were able to solve it.
“The ball movement and the team play were great,” Maples coach Jim Seavey said. “For the first game of the inaugural season, I thought we played really well together. It was great team basketball for the first game.”
A key part of the Maples’ ball movement was Mathieu, who played at the foul line and baseline areas for most of the game.
“I think I really wanted to be a guard (growing up), even though I’m so tall,” the Maples center said. “I kind of like to prove people wrong and show that I have that vision, too. I love to pass. I love to get people open and make those no-look passes.”
Another point of success for the Maples was the offensive glass, where they used their size and physicality to overpower the Trailblazers for rebounds.
“We were a lot bigger than them inside,” Mathieu said. “Going for the offensive boards and getting offensive rebounds is huge, especially against a zone, where they can’t box out as well.”
Seavey said that he has placed an emphasis on offensive rebounding, and it has certainly paid off.
“We talk about it all the time. On the defensive end, we want to limit our opponents to one shot. On the offensive end, we want to get second and third shot opportunities,” Seavey said. “We work in practice as far as who’s crashing the boards, who’s getting back on defense. Them being undersized was a factor as well.”
The defense, though, was perhaps the most impressive aspect of Lewiston-Auburn’s historic win.
The Maples swarmed the Trailblazers, both in the backcourt and the frontcourt, creating havoc throughout the contest. They limited New England to only 39 points, a mark that the Maples hit themselves midway through the second quarter.
“Defensively, we got a few 7-second backcourt calls, some 24-second shot-clock violations,” Seavey said. “We’re going to be sound defensively. That’s what we’re going to pride ourselves on: being sound defensively.”
One of New England’s players, Natalie Kerstein, isn’t even supposed to be on the team.
“Allexia, the point guard, she actually trains (Kerstein),” Trailblazers coach Kenny Small Jr. said. “She was here coming to support Lexi, and she brought her sneakers just in case an opportunity came around, and it did.”
“I’m super excited for her, because it’s a high school kid getting to play a semi-pro game,” Small Jr. added. “It was a good experience for her; her parents were ecstatic.”
The Trailblazers were missing most of the players off their 2021 WABA final four team.
“Unfortunately, the girls that we had last year that we went to the final four with just got back from overseas,” Small Jr. said. “And just to jump right back into summer basketball, all eight of them are like, ‘we’re taking a chill pill,’ so we don’t have a lot of our returners.”
New England had also planned to recruit numerous college players to the team, but most of those players have opted into a fifth year of college basketball as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Maples will look to continue their winning ways when they play the Trailblazers again next Saturday, July 16.
The Maples’ next home game is scheduled for July 31 at the Lewiston Armory against the Mt. Vernon Shamrocks, a team they faced in a preseason game.
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