FARMINGTON — If you were looking for Mt. Blue sophomore captain Lexi Mittelstadt, you could find on the perimeter, at the foul line or taking her lumps whenever she drove to the basket.
The mobile guard was all over the court, and during those shining moments, she accumulated the game-high 22 points to lead the Cougars (4-9) to a 47-38 victory over the Cony Rams in a girls’ basketball game Thursday night.
“Another stellar game (for Mittelstadt),” Mt. Blue coach Fred Conlogue said. “She had a slow start on the line, but then she had a good second half.”
Mittelstadt hit eight of her 15 free-throw attempts and threw in a pair of 3-pointers along the way.
But beating Cony (1-13) was not a sure thing. The Rams were persistent all night and made a run at the Cougars in in the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. Cony outscored Cougars 14-8, but Mt. Blue had enough in the bank to cover its account.
“I was impressed with (Cony’s) fourth quarter,” Conlogue said. “They hit those couple of 3s and they took it down to nine. We were up 17 or 18 at that point and they made it an interesting end to the game.
“I think we didn’t finish the offensive flow with 3:30 left. We thought we could close out the game and probably needed to play a little more offense.”
But in the first half, there were signs that Mt. Blue was about grab its fourth victory of the season. By the time halftime rolled around, the Cougars led 21-15.
Mt. Blue’s offense really came around in the third quarter where the Cougars erupted with 18 points, held stubborn Cony to nine and took a 39-24 lead.
“I am really, really proud of the third quarter,” Conlogue said. “I thought we had the energy that we needed. The bench got into the game — even the subs — every one contributed in that third quarter.”
Jocelyn Daggett was the second leading scorer for the Cougars with six points thanks to a key pair of 3-pointers. For Cony, senior Cari Hopkins delivered the team-high 11 points.
“We have made a lot of strides since last year,” Cony coach Adam Rich said. “There is only so much you can do at times when you are building a program.
I mean the girls are playing hard and getting the concepts a little bit more so as we go forward, maybe things will change.
“They (Cougars) are about like us. I think they have a little more talent. We don’t have that key ball-handler that they have so I think that separates them from us. I think we competed pretty well with them.”
Mt. Blue’s Rebecca Harmon drives to the basket as Cony’s Cari Hopkins (23) tries to stop her in a basketball game in Farmington on Thursday night.Mt. Blue sophomore captain Lexi Mittelstadt (24) drives past Cony’s Jayde Brann n a basketball game in Farmington on Thursday night.Mt. Blue’ Jacelyn Daggett tries to go up for shot against Cony on Thursday night.Mt. Blue’s Lexi Mittelstadt (24) gets a hand in her face as she drives to the basket.
Mt. Blue sophomore captain Lexi Mittelstadt (24) drives past Cony’s Jayde Brann in a basketball game in Farmington on Thursday night.
Mt. Blue’ Jacelyn Daggett tries to go up for a shot against Cony on Thursday night.
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