The Blue Devils erase a 12-point deficit to ground the Eagles.
By Kevin Mills
Staff Writer

TOPSHAM – By the time the deficit reached 12 points, the Lewiston girls’ basketball team knew it had to do something.

After a sluggish first half and with a Mt. Ararat team building on its lead in the third quarter, the Blue Devils were running out of time.

“We had to do something,” said Lewiston coach Jim Hood. “In the third quarter, we started coming back a little bit. In the fourth, we decided to go to a man-to-man, full court press and see if we got anything back. We started getting baskets back and it started making a difference.”

Lewiston pulled out all the stops Tuesday night and managed to rally from behind to beat Mt. Ararat 48-44. Both teams were coming off losses Saturday. With Mt. Ararat ranked fourth in Eastern A and Lewiston seeded sixth, it was a point-worthy win each team could use.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Hood. “This is one of the ones that we’re not supposed to get. It’s a good one for us. I like the outcome, but I like the way my kids came back from adversity.”

Amanda Bryant led the comeback with 23 points. She had 13 in the final quarter. Tracy Bradley and Kelsey Varney each chipped in 11.

“We knew all along we could be in this game,” said Bryant. “With all the negative criticism about Lewiston being overrated and all that, we wanted to show them what we’re really made of. We stayed positive and got it done.”

Lewiston erased the double-digit deficit and used a surge of seven-straight points early in the fourth to get within one. Lewiston’s defense made life miserable for the Eagles and took advantage of every mistake down the stretch.

“We were trying to keep the tempo to a minimum because we knew how fast and athletic they are,” said Mt. Ararat coach Kelly LaFountain. “We were trying to slow it down and play a halfcourt game toward the end of the game, but we were out of sync with our offense.”

For Mt. Ararat it was a rollercoaster ride of a day. The Eagles learned early on that star guard Erika Stupinski will likely miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury she suffered in late December. She saw a doctor Tuesday and will have her shoulder in a harness for three more weeks. The high-point for the Eagles came early in the opening quarter when senior forward Erin Johnson scored her 1,000th point, joining Stupinski as the only female at Mt. Ararat to do so.

Johnson dominated the game early on, scoring 18 of her 23 points in the first half. The Eagles inside game and Lewiston’s inability to click offensively allowed Mt. Ararat to build a 28-21 lead at the half.

Though Lewiston did a better job on Johnson in the second half and forced more turnovers, the Eagles were able to build the lead to 37-25. A 3 from Elaine Emerson with 2:53 had the Eagles seemingly in control.

Lewiston got a jumper from Bryant and a fast break basket by Laura Martel to get the Blue Devils within 37-29 after three quarters. A Bryant jumper to start the fourth quickly had Lewiston within six.

“That gave us a little boost of energy – a well-needed boost,” said Bryant. “I think at that point we were really in a positive mindset that the game could be won and we needed to play with our hearts and really play our game.”

After an Emerson jumper gave the Eagles an eight-point lead again, Lewiston ran off seven straight. After two Bryant free throws, Bradley put back a rebound and a steal by Bryant led to a three-point play to get Lewiston within one. Johnson scored on a press breaker, but a 3 by Bryant with 4:50 left tied the game.

Lewiston then took the lead on a Varney basket following a Katie Morin steal. Johnson managed to tie with 2:48 left, but a strong move to the basket by Bryant with 2:35 left gave the Blue Devils the lead for good.

“We’re the kind of team where once we make one or two or three shots consecutively, we’ve got a rhythm going,” said Bryant. “It’s really pretty hard to stop us once we got our rhythm going as a team.”