BRUNSWICK — When the names of various teams to watch in the KVAC were tossed about during the preseason, the Brunswick girls’ basketball likely didn’t get much mention.
But people are talking about the Dragons now.
With Thursday’s convincing 49-22 win over Oxford Hills, the Dragons improved to 4-1 and are among the top teams in Eastern A. Brunswick’s only loss came in overtime against top-ranked Edward Little.
“This is a big win for us,” junior guard Julia Champagne said. “Oxford Hills is such a good team. Nobody expected Brunswick to be a good team this year. So we wanted to prove everybody wrong.”
Champagne outscored the Vikings on her own with 23 points. She scored 14 of her team’s 16 points in the second quarter as the Dragons turned an 8-6 lead after one into a 24-8 advantage at the half.
“Normally, we start out the game not as hard as we should,” Champagne said. “We usually need more energy, but this game we were ready and came out with a lot of energy.”
Madeline Surh added nine for the Dragons, all in the second half. Oxford Hills (1-2) got seven from Anna Winslow and six from Mikayla Morin.
The Vikings played well in the first but looked tentative the rest of the way. Oxford Hills shot 6-for-37 over the final three quarters and couldn’t keep pace with the top scoring team in the KVAC.
“They scored a lot of points and we didn’t,” Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier said. “That’s what it comes down to. I think we got some good looks, in the second quarter maybe not. In the second half, we got some good looks to try to cut in to it, but we’d miss a layup and they’d get a fast break layup and all of a sudden it would go the other way.”
It was just the third game of the season for the Vikings, who are a couple of games behind most other teams in the league in the number of games played.
“It was the first game with all of our kids because we’ve had to deal with some issues,” Pelletier said.
That lack of continuity showed at times and Brunswick’s play as a team was a stark contrast, even though the Dragons have just three seniors and one junior. Though Brunswick primarily shot from the outside in its win over Lewiston Monday, the Dragons were able to mix it up offensively, going inside and getting some fast break points.
“We can do whatever,” Champagne said. “Today we were open in the paint. So we just took the shots, and they went in. That’s all we can ask for. Whenever we got a rebound, someone was taking off. That’s where we got most of our points.”
After an 8-6 first quarter, the Vikings watched the Dragons open the lead in the second. Free throws by Anna Dimick and a fast break hoop by Champagne made it 12-6. The Vikings got a basket by Morin, but it would be the only points for the Vikings in the quarter. Oxford Hills shot just 1-for-6 and had 10 turnovers.
“If you can’t score, it doesn’t matter how good you are defensively,” Pelletier said. “We only had 19 (total) points in the fourth quarter. We’re not going to win games like that. We’ve talked about it all year. If we can’t put the ball in the basket, it doesn’t matter how hard we play defensively, and we can be one of the best defensive teams in the state.”
Brunswick scored 12 consecutive points to finish the half. All 12 came from Champagne, including a 3 at the buzzer that made it 24-8 at the half.
In the second half, the Vikings started to force a few more turnovers but couldn’t convert on the other end. Oxford Hills shot just 3-for-16 in the third and then 2-for-15 in the fourth.
“The second half, we were nervous at halftime because we thought they would come out really hard, but we really brought it the whole game,” said Champagne.
The Vikings just couldn’t get a run going or take advantage of its size inside. Brunswick led 33-15 after three.
“It’s great to have some kids that are taller, and we’re very athletic,” said Pelletier. “They’ve got some quick guards, and they did a good job.”
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