FARMINGTON — Mt. Blue was pushed, shoved and knocked to the ground, but the Cougars got back up just in time to beat the Cony Rams 41-32 Friday night in KVAC girls’ basketball action.

It was ugly from the start, with numerous turnovers and tepid shooting, but Mt. Blue kept its composure in the fourth quarter. The Cougars held ram-tough Cony (0-12) to four points in the last stanza.

The Cougars (3-8) never landed a 3-pointer. It was strictly a front-court affair.

“Very physical. They clearly had a game plan to stop the perimeter shooters for us,” Mt. Blue coach Fred Conlogue said. “I felt the difference was our post players, who ended up with 22 points for us. The low post, they just came up big. Rebecca (Harmon) had 11, Kasadie Barker had nine, and I thought Nathalie Pierce came off the bench and played really well. She played some key minutes. This was probably her best game of the season.

“I liked our composure down the stretch. We were making one of two every time we came down, but enough to keep the lead. We seemed to keep our composure, I think. It was pretty physical from the get-go.”

The hard-driving Harmon delivered the game-high 11 points. Barker and Leah St. Laurent took their lumps to emerge with nine points a piece.

Mt. Blue’s frequent trips to the free-throw line proved fruitful, with the Cougars hitting 21 of 36 free throws.

In the fourth quarter, the Cougars were leading 32-28, but that’s when they started driving the basketball and coming up with key free throws to stave off the Rams. The Rams were stubborn till the end and closed to within three points with two quick baskets, but Mt. Blue still led 35-32 with about four minutes left in the game. Mackenzie Lewis dropped in the team-high nine points for Cony.

St. Laurent scored four point,s and Harmon made it impossible for Cony to get back into the game with less than two minutes left. Harmon drove to the net, scored, and was fouled on the way down. She hit the foul shot and the Cougars could breath easier the rest of the way.

“We try to pressure the ball as much as we can,” Cony coach Adam Rich said. “What it boils down to is that when we just keep giving possession back and back and forth, you know we make stupid, silly fouls … we just can’t handle it.

“This a lot improvement from the beginning of the year to now, but I mean we are still not there. We are not not there, yet, but I think we will be.”

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