JAY — Spruce Mountain didn’t lose a regular-season game last year. The Phoenix lost their first three this year, however, as much of the roster changed.
What hasn’t changed in the five-year history of the program is the team’s dominance at home. That nearly changed Tuesday night.
Spruce Mountain pulled away in the third quarter against Poland, only for the Knights to get perilously close at the end. Yet, the Phoenix held on for a 49-47 victory in a Class B South girls’ basketball tilt at the Phoenix Dome.
With the win, the Phoenix moved to 40-0 at the dome since the Spruce Mountain program was created in 2011.
“For this program, we’ve never lost here. I think they were really maybe digging a little bit deeper to make sure they didn’t get beat here,” Spruce Mountain head coach Chris Bessey said. “They don’t want to be that team that ends up getting that first loss.”
The Phoenix (2-3) entered the season 38-0 at home, then handled Maranacook in its home opener by 24 points.
That’s the way Tuesday’s game looked to be going when the hosts pulled ahead 40-29 after three quarters. Sophomore Hanna St. Pierre scored six points in a row in the third after the Knights (3-4) notched the first two points of the second half.
“We had the momentum,” Bessey said.
Then the third quarter turned into the fourth, and Poland sophomore Nathalie Theriault turned into the terror Bessey expected her to be. Theriault scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the final frame as the Knights rallied back.
“She’s the motor that drives us. When she’s moving, we’re moving,’ Poland head coach Michael Susi said of Theriault, who he said was battling an illness Tuesday. “When she’s giving that type of effort, we’re tough to stop, tough to beat.”
“She’s a great player. We knew that coming in,” Bessey said of Theriault. “She’s good enough where, even know our focus is (her), she’s still able to make plays and get to the rim.”
Theriault pulled the Knights to within 49-47 with the first of two free throws in the closing seconds. She missed the second, and the Phoenix grabbed the rebound. Spruce Mountain missed two free throws the other way that could have closed out the game, but a Poland full-court heave at the buzzer fell well short and the Phoenix held on.
“I think in two of our three losses we’ve had fourth-quarter leads, and allowed a team to come back and beat us,” Bessey said. “Kind of did it tonight too, but we were fortunate enough to make enough plays at the end to get the win.”
Alex Bessey led the Phoenix — which was missing second-leading scorer Emily Hogan, who was on a trip — with 13 points. St. Pierre and Rylee Moore each had nine, and Haley Turcotte added 11, including three 3-pointers.
Spruce Mountain let leads slip in each of the first three quarters, then nearly did the same in the fourth. The Knights did their part in never letting the hosts fully pull away.
“This team’s got a ton of heart,” Susi said. “We just can’t get over the hump.”
Sarah Bolduc scored nine points for Poland, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter and tie the game 12-12.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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