PARIS — The sweater Cheverus coach Bill Goodman wore Friday had “Merry Grinchmas” knitted on the front.
The Stags certainly Grinch’d Oxford Hills, taking control early and all but putting away the Vikings in the opening quarter en route to a 76-47 Class AA girls basketball win.
Cheverus coach Bill Goodman talks to his team during a timeout during Friday night’s game in Paris against Oxford Hills. Brewster Burns photo
Oxford Hills was wearing its holiday-themed uniforms, and the coaches were decked out in festive suits, in honor of the girls basketball team’s annual Christmas for Kids toy drive. Both teams and their fans teamed up to collect a massive haul of gifts during the game. The Vikings and Stags wore T-shirts before the game to celebrate the toy drive, and Goodman wore his Grinch sweater.
“It’s big,” Goodman said of the win. “I mean, we have a lot of respect for Oxford Hills. They’ve kind of been really good for a long time. And they are good.”
Cheverus (2-0) scored the game’s first 18 points and held defending state champion Oxford Hills scoreless until Ella Pelletier’s and-one with 1:55 remaining in the opening quarter.
On the game’s first possession, Cheverus broke down Oxford Hills’ zone by passing the ball around and then Ruth Boles found Rachel Feeley wide open near the hoop for an easy layup.
The Stags’ three-quarters-court press forced a turnover that led to a long jumper by Anna Goodman, and a stop at the other end of the court set up a 3-pointer by Megan Deerborn, and Cheverus led 7-0 less than a minute into the game without star player Maddie Fitzpatrick scoring a point.
“We’re just trying to play with a lot of energy to start games, for the whole game,” Bill Goodman said. “I feel that’s what my team’s best at, playing fast and pressing and all that,” Bill Goodman said. “So I was just really proud. We haven’t started too many games off too well, in the preseason and the regular season — well, we’ve had one game — and I thought our ball movement to start the game was amazing.”
The Stags continued to score and their trapping defense continued to force turnovers and make Oxford Hills settle for forced shots.
The Vikings (1-1) have a lot of new players in new roles, which compounded their struggles against Cheverus’ defense and led to what Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier called “silly turnovers.”
“This was sort of not a great situation to be in because they’re trapping everywhere, and they’re good at it. So we’re going to get better,” Nate Pelletier said.
Fitzpatrick got involved in the scoring and contributed four points in the first quarter, after which Cheverus led 22-6. The lead grew to 44-13 by halftime.
“You know, when they got rolling, it was tough for us,” Nate Pelletier said. “Like, I burn a timeout, and they come out and hit another 3, and it’s like, there’s not much we can do.
“But they’re playing well, and we’ve got to get better. That’s what it boils down to.”
Fitzpatrick, who has committed to play at the University of Maine, finished the game with 26 points.
Ruth Boles contributed 12 points and a lot of other things to the victory.
“This was one of the best games Ruth’s ever played for me,” Bill Goodman said. “She’s been really working on her shot in practice, which showed tonight. And she did a lot of little things tonight, which, we had a talk last night about it, and she did a lot of little things tonight. For her to do it that quick, I’m very impressed — very coachable.”
Sophomore Rachel LaSalle added nine off the bench, and overall, nine Cheverus players scored.
A lot has been made of players the Stags lost to transfers since last season — particularly post Emma Lizotte, who is now at Thornton Academy — but so far Cheverus looks like it is still a top contender in Class AA.
“It’s definitely tough that we’ve lost some players,” Fitzpatrick said, “but I think that’s brought us closer together, helped our chemistry a lot, and … given (other players) opportunities to step up, and I think that’s just made us a better team all-around.
“And a lot of people have worked really hard in the offseason, and you can tell in a game like this, they’re stepping up when we need them to score. So it’s great. It’s really great.”
Ella Pelletier scored 25 to lead Oxford Hills. Thirteen of those points came in the second half, including three 3-pointers.
After scoring 13 points in the first half, the Vikings tallied 20 in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth. They even cut the lead to less than 20 at one point.
“So I just felt like we played well tonight,” Bill Goodman said, “but you lay off the pressure at all with that team and they can score 20 points in five minutes — and they started to tonight.
“So they weren’t going to go down, and if you can beat Oxford, it’s a good win.”
Nate Pelletier said in the preseason that the regular season will be a time of growth in several areas for the Vikings.
That showed Friday. He said that he was anticipating Cheverus’ defense to be a problem. But Oxford Hills did adapt as the game went on, and Friday’s lopsided outcome might prove to have a lot of value.
“We said that the only way you can beat some sort of trapping defense like that is actually to be involved in it and see it. You can’t simulate what they do in practice,” Nate Pelletier said. “So, it’s like, we’ve got to be out there, see it and feel it, and now we can talk about how can we do better against it.
“Because I think we had some silly turnovers, at times, that that didn’t need to be turnovers. You take some of those away, you may be able to keep the game a little bit closer.”
Both teams emptied their benches for the final three minutes. Both also had young players contribute when the other team’s starters and regular rotation players were still in the game. For instance, Oxford Hills freshman Lydia Goyette played a lot in the fourth quarter, and even scored a basket.
“I thought we played a lot better second half. We actually settled in a little bit. When you do that, at least you have some positives there,” Nate Pelletier said. “But we’ve got to figure it out, and I think we will. We had some kids go in at the end that gave us some pretty good minutes.
“But, I mean, the good news is, is that it can only get better right? And that’s our goal. And we always knew that we’re going to have a lot to learn.”
Cheverus, meanwhile, has started the season with a 20-point win over South Portland to go along with Friday’s 29-point win over the defending state champions.
The season is young, but as in Friday’s game, the Stags couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.
“I don’t think we want to get ahead of ourselves because it’s literally the second game, but it’s really exciting,” Fitzpatrick said. “I mean, we’re having a great time together, we’re playing really good basketball right now, so I think we’re really excited.
“We just want to stay focused and not look too far ahead, and just be in the present, because this is a special team — like, just our friendship and our love for each other — so we just want to stay present and keep pushing.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
