TURNER — Eva Stevens wasn’t bashful about reeling off 3-pointers and Mt. Blue kept its cool down the stretch and made off with a 53-37 victory over Leavitt in a basketball game Tuesday.
Stevens scored a game-high 22 points and knocked down five 3-pointers. Four of those 3s game early in the game and helped the Cougars build a 14-9 first-quarter lead.
Stevens said her confidence from the perimeter started before the game.
“I was hitting my shots in warmups, so I knew that I would have a good chance in the game,” Stevens said. “We played really well. We had good ball movement. We played good D. We put in a new defense and we are running it really well.
“I just want to keep going. I want to see the (Augusta) Civic Center before I graduate.”
Katelyn Daggett helped out with 10 points for Mt. Blue. As a team, the Cougars were quite comfortable at the perimeter, hitting eight 3-pointers.
The Cougars (4-10) started hitting their shots in the fourth quarter and, after entering the quarter with a seven-point lead, found themselves ahead 44-32 with 4:53 left in the game.
“I think we showed the wide range of abilities that we have,” Mt. Blue coach Zac Conlogue said. “We have moments where we look great and then we have moments when we just scratch our heads.”
Conlogue pointed out that Mt. Blue’s defense helped generate offense in that crucial fourth quarter.
“That was really the spark plug,” Conlogue said, “and we started settling down on offense and we were hitting the shots. Defense was the key tonight.”
Jill Pelletier scored a team-high 14 points and slipped four 3-pointers for the Hornets.
BACK AND FORTH
Leavitt (1-12) landed a pair of 3-pointers late in the first half to close in on Mt. Blue, but the the Cougars held on to a 22-20 lead heading into the second half.
The Hornets took their second-quarter momentum into the third and went ahead 23-22.
“Our M.O. has become lately that we will work hard the whole time,” Leavitt coach Chris Marston said. “I think we just lack depth right now. We hit this wall late in games that it just gets away from us. I don’t think it is necessarily what we are doing or they are doing — and we just get tired and it is hard to overcome that with lack of depth right now. I am proud of our kids. We faced adversity this year.”
Marston said the Hornets have had to work around COVID-19 and injuries.
The Vikings began pressing furiously to slow down Leavitt, but when Pelletier hit a 3-pointer, the crowd erupted with cheering and Leavitt had 26-23 advantage. The Hornets also worked their press with good results.
Stevens landed her fifth 3-pointer, giving the lead back to the Cougars, 28-26. From there, the teams went back and fourth for most of the remainder of the third quarter.
Stevens’ three-point play and Lindsay Arsenault’s basket from underneath helped put the Cougars out in front 37-30 heading into the fourth quarter.
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