The Patriots (2-0) held the visiting Rams (1-1) scoreless in the first quarter, and allowed just nine points through three quarters of play.
“If you give a good effort like we do tonight, we can take a very good Kennebunk team and make them look pretty ordinary,” Gray-NG coach Mike Andreasen said. “That talent of those teams was not as wide as the score was.”
Kennebunk didn’t score until just over 10 minutes into the game, then put together baskets on consecutive possessions. Those were the only points of the first half for the Rams.
“I’ll take four points in a half any time,” Andreasen said.
“They played outstanding defense. They’re very physical,” Rams coach Rob Sullivan said. “We didn’t match their intensity whatsoever. They played great, both ends of the court. I thought our zone (defense) was okay, but we never were able to put any offense against them. We just got our butts kicked, simple as that.”
That zone defense forced the Patriots into shots from outside which weren’t falling early, hitting on just one 3-pointer in the first quarter. But they put enough shots together to lead 14-0.
“We thought they’d run (man-to-man),” Andreasen said. “With zone, it’s hit or miss because it’s a very saggy defense. They gave our wing players some time and space to shoot, and sometimes when we’re knocking them down we can do that to them. We’re a little inconsistent with our shooting.”
The Patriots stretched their opening run to 16-0 early in the second quarter before Marran Oakman and Sierra Tarte made a transition layup and put-back, respectively. That forced Andreasen to call a timeout soon after, with the Rams showing the first glimpse of a response.
But it was the Patriots who did the responding. Grace Kariotis hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to make it 23-4.
“(The zone defense) did what it did early on, and then when they started hitting from the outside and we had to come out, (Skye) Conley is just too much for us inside,” Sullivan said. “At that point the game’s over.”
Conley, the Patriots’ senior center, only made two baskets in the game. But she made seven free throws and went to the line 10 times.
She scored five of her 11 points in the third quarter, when the Patriots increased their lead to 41-9. The Rams started to get to the line themselves, but couldn’t find the bottom of the hoop on any field-goal attempts. It wasn’t until Andreasen unloaded his bench in the fourth quarter that Kennebunk was able to find some offense.
Conley and Kariotis tied for the game-high with 11 points apiece. Alicia Dumont added 10 points, including seven in the first quarter to give the Patriots an early offensive spark.
Oakman scored a team-high seven points for the Rams.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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