LEWISTON — Lewiston ended a two-game losing streak with a convincing 55-34 home win over Deering in a Class AA girls basketball matchup Friday.
Ellie Legare, the Blue Devils’ sparkplug Friday, said she thinks the pre-game routine was the difference maker in breaking Lewiston’s (4-2) losing streak. She also said defensively, increased communication, help-side and boxing Deering out was the defensive secret that led to a win.
“We all said something that we wanted to work on for the game and I really think that we took that into consideration,” Legare said. “I said to talk more on defense and to just rebound, and I think we did a really good job with that.”
Offensively, coach Josh Morin said he thought the Blue Devils moved the ball better, and utilized their four solid shooters who “can get to the rim.”
Legare was first to put points on the board for the Blue Devils, sinking a 3-pointer, and kicking off Lewiston’s seven-point scoring run.
“It’s just a good feeling when the first one goes in, it gives you a lot of confidence, for sure,” Legare said. “Mentally, I was in the game a lot more.”
Morin said Legare is “that kid that doesn’t say much, but can hit the big shot.”
“She likes to be in the post for a guard, which is kind of unusual, but that was something that she told me early on this year that she’d love to do, and she did it tonight,” Morin continued. “She helped get rebounds, keep their bigs off the glass.”
Koral Morin (10 points for the game) got in on the first-quarter action for the Blue Devils, with a steal, which translated to another two points for Lewiston on a breakaway.
“I think we’ve been working hard in practice on boxing out and trying to get rebounds, and I thought we did a much better job with that tonight,” Josh Morin said. “So I think that’s a big reason why we won.”
Josh Morin said Koral Morin is the team’s “do it all kid,” who usually has a tough matchup against the other solid guards in the league but is the spark to the Blue Devils.
“She’s kind of like that coach on the floor, she’s making good reads, she’s seeing what’s going on and she’s pretty good at breaking kids down at the rim,” Coach Morin said.
Deering’s Natalie Santiago (12 points) ended Lewiston’s scoring run with two points, bringing the score to 7-2 with about four minutes left in the first quarter.
Bailey Tardif-Mockler (seven points) also logged a steal for Lewiston when she intercepted a Deering (2-4) pass from Angelina Keo (10 points) and took it to the basket for two points.
Legare (eight points) was the first to put points on the board in the second quarter, just like she did in the first. Lewiston’s top points scorer, Natalie Beaudoin (19 points), found the net multiple times after Legare’s two, chipping in seven points in the second quarter.
Josh Morin said Beaudoin’s performance was consistent, as it always is, being “a 6-foot-1 kid that can shoot,” and her size and skillset causes a lot of mismatches for other teams against her.
Deering struggled to gain traction against Beaudoin’s efforts and couldn’t collect any second-quarter points until Santiago logged two, bringing the score to 29-9. Santiago was given two free throws after being fouled on a shot, and made both, bringing the gap to 18 points at the half.
Lewiston continued to score more in the third quarter, mostly by Beaudoin, who scored off two 3-pointers and a 2-pointer. Morin also added three points and Tardif-Mockler sank a left-side 3-pointer.
Deering brought the heat back in the third quarter, after a quiet second offensively.
“We played the third quarter the way we’re supposed to play the start of the game, with a little bit more fire,” Deering coach Mike Murphy said. “I don’t get it, but that’s a very good team (Lewiston), and we would shoot it, but we were too slow. Just identifying where the shooters were, that was the difference in the first quarter.”
The Rams certainly identified some shooters in the third, when Santiago added a 3-pointer, and Maya Gayle (four points), Sophie Hill (three points) and Almarina Abore (two points) each chipped in another two points. Julia Krush (three points) matched Santiago’s 3-pointer, bringing the score to 43-24. Despite the Rams picking up some third-quarter points, they ultimately couldn’t equal Lewiston’s efforts.
“We need to come out and play with a more spirit, more anger, like we did the third quarter,” Murphy said.
In the fourth, Keo was the lone scorer, but finished with two 3-pointers in the last four minutes, as well as two 2-pointers.
“She’s a freshman, she’s had a good year,” Murphy said about Keo. “She went from playing eighth grade to playing varsity basketball against 18-year-olds, it was a big jump. She’s a competitor and I like what I see.”
Lewiston earned points from five players, further widening the lead. Ella Beaudoin (three points) sank a 3 in the last five minutes, as did Sylar Gaudette (three points).
FAN-FAVORITE PLAY
Notably in the fourth quarter was Morin’s double-fake on Deering, which got the crowd cheering, about three minutes into the fourth. Morin finished with a 2-pointer off that set and earned another point on a free throw after being fouled on the shot.
“We were kind of coming at each other full-force and I went to set a screen and she just kind of bumped into me pretty hard,” Morin said about one of the several fouls against her. “I didn’t expect her to hit me that hard.”
FIRST FOR LAST
This season is Morin’s first at the helm of the Blue Devils, but he is no stranger to the strong senior class. He said he has coached many of them since first grade, often at the YMCA in Auburn.
“We were very young, and we’ve been together the whole time, so when I had a chance to coach them one last time, I was like, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’” Morin said.
Murphy also complimented the Blue Devils, calling them a good team who may have lost a few games, but are ultimately going to win more than they lose the remainer of this season.
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