MONMOUTH — An offensive showcase it was not.
Neither Dirigo or Monmouth had much in the way of firepower Friday night. That forced both teams to grind out a nail-biter of a game.
While both team defenses played hard and stingy, it was the Cougars that found just enough offense at the end to emerge with a 34-32 win in overtime.
“They’ve beaten a lot of good teams, but I knew they matched up well with all our players,” said Dirigo coach Reggie Weston.
The win bumped Dirigo (12-4) up to third in Western C. Monmouth (12-4) was third and slipped to fourth.
“We don’t know how the brackets will go,” said Weston, whose team was in the sixth spot prior to the game. “Sixth was looking pretty good right now. You just don’t know what is a good bracket. So, right now, we’re just going for the W, and the girls worked hard and deserved this.”
Kelsey Hutchins led Dirigo with 11 points while Emma Lueders added seven. Monmouth got 11 from Kylie Kemp and six from Sierra Spencer.
Both teams struggled from the floor, but Monmouth really had a hard time getting untracked offensively. The Mustangs shot 1-for-16 in the first and 0-for-14 in the second. Monmouth finished the game 10-for-54 while Dirigo was 12-for-43.
“It looked a lot like Madison,” said Monmouth coach Scott Wing, whose team lost to the Bulldogs 50-32 earlier in the year. “We told the girls that we were executing alright. We got the shots that we wanted. It was pretty ugly, and considering the shots we got, it was even uglier.”
Still Monmouth battled back and made a game of it and forced overtime. Down by seven late in the fourth, the Mustangs got a drive by Melissa Brassard and a 3-pointer from Spencer to make it 28-26 with 1:30 left. A steal by Kemp tied it with 1:16 remaining. Both teams had opportunities in the final minute to break the tie but turned the ball over. Dirigo had a second opportunity in the final seconds but missed an open layup.
In the overtime, it was the free-throw line that helped put the Cougars ahead. Four of Dirigo’s six points came from the line.
“We work on free throws and we’ve been getting better at it,” said Weston.
Kayla Gaudin and Lueders each sank a free throw to start overtime. Monmouth got a Brianna Hicks basket to tie it off a Kemp feed with 3:00 left. After a Jessica Conant free throw, Lueders set up Gaudin for a basket and a 33-30 lead with 2:32 left.
“It’s one at a time,” said Weston. “We’d get a little confidence. We didn’t want to stall it. I was just looking for plays that we could drive with.”
Monmouth got foul shots from Daisi Poole with 1:57 left. The Mustangs had a chance to take the lead but missed free throws nixed that opportunity. Lueders made it 34-32 with 16 seconds left. Monmouth had one last try to tie it and had an open layup of its own that missed.
“That’s what we talked about after the game,” said Wing. “People will dwell on the foul shots and the layup at the end of the game, but if we had put the ball in the basket earlier in the game, I don’t think it would have been a game. We had the opportunity to blow it open, and we didn’t capitalize on it.”
Despite the poor shooting early, Monmouth only trailed 6-2 after one. Dirigo opened a seven-point lead early in the second, but Monmouth closed the gap from the foul line. Ashley Coulombe, Kemp and Hicks helped get the Mustangs within 11-9 at the half.
In the third, Monmouth opened with a Kemp basket and a Spencer 3 to take its only lead of the game. Dirigo answered that with two baskets by Hutchins and one by Lueders. Hutchins had six in the third to help the Cougars build a 23-19 lead entering the fourth.
“They’re a good team,” said Weston. “They’re well-coached. “I think the defense made a difference. I could see them holding their shirts and putting their hands on their heads. They looked to be a little tired.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
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