The Cheverus girls basketball team earned its biggest win of the season last week.
On Tuesday, the Stags managed to top themselves.
Cheverus earned its second victory over an undefeated team in seven days, holding off Oxford Hills, 51-43, in a matchup of two of Class AA’s top teams.
Maddie Fitzpatrick and Emma Lizotte had 15 points apiece and Ruth Boles added nine for the Stags (15-2), who also knocked off Thornton Academy last week, and who coach Bill Goodman said they have picked a good time of the year to start playing their best basketball.
“It really is. I’m getting to know this team, I feel a lot of girls are stepping up. They all know their jobs and they’re all doing a solid job for us. I’m very happy,” Goodman said. “It was one of the most disciplined 32 minutes I’ve seen a team play, offensively and defensively. My team was just focused.”
They had reason to be. Oxford Hills defeated Cheverus, 61-50, only 10 days prior. After taking down the Golden Trojans, the Stags knew they had an opportunity to ace another challenge, as well as earn a measure of payback.
“(There was) definitely a little bit of an underdog feeling,” Lizotte said. “But we came in with confidence, like we could step up to play against this team.”
Sierra Carson had 15 points, Ella Pelletier had nine and Maddy Miller scored eight for the Vikings (13-1), who moved within a score when Carson’s 3-pointer made it 45-42 with 3:35 left, but got no closer.
“In the fourth quarter we cut it to three, gave ourselves a chance and just couldn’t hit a big basket when we needed to,” Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier said. “We are trying to get to 60 points, and we didn’t get to our 60 points. If we do, we win the game.”
Both teams were on track to reach that mark after a spirited first half that saw the score tied nine times before Cheverus emerged with a 32-30 lead. The Stags took a 40-36 lead into the third, and went up 43-37 when Megan Dearborn (six points) knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:13 left.
Oxford Hills battled back to get within a possession on the Carson 3, but Fitzpatrick made a free throw and Lizotte – who battled a hurt foot in the fourth – scored on the putback when Fitzpatrick missed her second to make it 48-42 with just over two and a half minutes to go.
Fitzpatrick, who had six points and five rebounds in the fourth, said the team upped its focus on defense in the second half.
“We executed what we had planned,” she said. “I think we were just playing tighter (defense). We saw what the score was, we knew time and score, and we knew defense was going to win this game. Scoring is something we can do, but we need to play really good defense if we’re going to win against a good offensive and defensive team like that.”
The Vikings can’t lament their lost chance at perfection. Games against Gorham (8-7), Bangor (12-2) and Brunswick (14-1) are up next.
“We don’t have time to look at this game,” Nate Pelletier said. “You have to look forward.”
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