LEWISTON — Sometimes being so close to victory makes it that much tougher when it doesn’t happen.

The Lewiston girls’ basketball team was as close to a win as it has been all season Monday, but watched Brunswick snatch the game away with a buzzer beater.

The Dragons rallied from a pair of deficits in the final two minutes to edge the Blue Devils, 62-61.

“We could use a ‘W,’ for sure,” Lewiston coach Mike Labonte, whose team beat the Dragons last year in Lewiston in similar fashion, said. “We’ve been battling. At Skowhegan we were down by 10 at halftime and were up by four after three. We keep trying to figure things out, and we’re getting there. We’d like to see a victory along the way to help get it going. It’s a good boost for (Brunswick), and we’ll just grind a little harder.”

Sophomore guard Gillian Doehring put back a rebound in the final second of regulation to stun the Blue Devils. The Dragons (3-1) had gotten a shot from Lyse Henshaw from the right side but it it missed. It bounced out to an open Doehring to the left of the basket for a short jumper.

“I knew I just had to get the rebound and put it up as fast as possible because I knew time was running down,” Doehring said. “I thought it was good because it hit the backboard good but then it was kind of circling out, but then it fell in.”

Lewiston (0-4) was down by as many as 12 in the third but rallied in the fourth and took the lead twice in the final minutes. A 3 by Emily Brochu put Lewiston up 59-56 with 2:01 left. Brunswick got a rebound by Julia Champagne moments later. Then the Dragons took the lead when Madeline Suhr was left all alone for a layup with 22 seconds left.

Lewiston took a time out and got the lead back with eight seconds remaining. Kristina Blais made a strong drive to the hoop and laid it in for the go-ahead basket.

Brunswick pushed the ball up court and set up the shot by Henshaw that missed, but Doehring was there for the long rebound.

“You’ve got to give them credit for driving down and getting the offensive board,” Labonte said. “We knew it was a long rebound. We had a girl in the right position. It was just unfortunate. (Doehring) cashed in on it.”

Champagne led the Dragons with 26 points. Henshaw finished with 10 while Suhr had nine. Lewiston got 24 points from Blais and 15 from Brie Wilson.

After leading 19-15 after the first quarter, Lewiston had some breakdowns defensively and the Dragons started to hit shots from the outside. Brunswick had numerous open shooters break open a tie game with an 11-3 run, including eight straight. Champagne and Doehring each had a 3 during that stretch.

Brunswick was up by as many as 11 in the second and were up at the half 41-30. The Dragons built the lead to 48-36 on a Suhr 3 and a basket by Champagne, but Lewiston finished the quarter with a flurry.

After a Brochu drive, Blais scored on a fast break and drilled a 3. Then she scored another fast break hoop and Lewiston was within 48-45 after three quarters.

Lewiston’s defensive effort picked up, and Brunswick struggled from the floor, shooting 3-for-16 in the third and hitting just one of its first 11 shots in the fourth.

“That’s what we’ve been harping on the most,” said Labonte of his team’s defensive effort. “We’ve been giving up 60 points almost every game, and we have to get better there. The kids understand that.  They’re working hard to try and get it accomplished. We have spurts where we do it pretty well, but we just not consistent enough yet.”

Lewiston tied the game early in the fourth on a 3 by Jenessa Talarico. Brunswick got big 3’s from Champagne in the fourth to keep the lead. Her second put the Dragons up 56-52 with 3:32 left.

“It’s tough when we’re struggling with our shooting because we depend on it a lot,” said Doehring, who finished with eight points. “Then we have Julia, who can drive and Lyse can drive also.”

Two free throws by Wilson got Lewiston within two with 2:56 left. Then Brochu hit the 3 from the top of the key to put the Blue Devils ahead.  She was injured less than a minute later during a collision that resulted in an offensive foul call.

“When you’re on a run, it’s all adrenaline and you run with it and that can be pretty hard to stop,” Doehring said.

Though Lewiston had a couple of defensive breakdowns that led to open looks for the Dragons down the stretch, the Blue Devils got some clutch baskets when they needed them to put them in the lead.

“They battled and kept battling but we just gave up too many points in that second period,” said Labonte. “They showed good character by battling, and we’re heading in the right direction. We just got unlucky here today.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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