AUBURN — Seniors Emily Eastlack and Winnie LaRochelle took control of the game when Rangeley needed it most Monday.
The two seniors scored in bunches in the second half as the Lakers pulled away for a 67-50 girls basketball victory over St. Dominic Academy.
Eastlack hit back-to-back 3-pointers as part of her 11-point third quarter. She finished with 21 points.
“She brings that extra effort getting to the basket,” Rangeley coach Brittany Russell said. “When she realizes we’re down, she goes right to the basket — she puts her foot on the pedal and she’s ready to go when we need that next basket. That’s what I told her in the third, ‘We need to take control and you’re the leader.’ She’s realizing that she can take the outside shot and that her outside shot is just as good as her inside shot.”
Eastlack finished with 21 points. The long ball has been an added part of her game this season.
“I think it’s just confidence,” Eastlack said. “It’s my senior year so I’ve been practicing more 3s lately and I have gotten more confident, I know I can hit them.”
LaRochelle scored 13 of her 28 points in the fourth quarter to help secure the victory for the Lakers (9-2).
At the half, St. Dom’s (5-9) held a 26-25 lead.
Saints freshman Charli Apodaca scored 14 of her 19 in the first half. She also had five steals. Jessica Zimmerman scored eight first-half points and finished with 17.
“She is very helpful; very strong offensively but also helps defensively,” St. Dom’s coach Lexi Grondin said of Zimmerman. “We look to her to get the ball in, shoot, bring the ball up, and she’s also a really good passer. She can shoot, too, but we look to her as a playmaker.”
The Saints, however, struggled to make shots in the second half.
“I would say the scoring was the difference,” Grondin said. “I wouldn’t say our offense wasn’t working, our shots just didn’t fall. I’d say for Rangeley, every shot they took was a great shot and they all fell and they moved the ball really well.”
Thanks to Eastlack’s scoring from the 3-point line, free-throw line and at the hoop, Rangeley built a 43-35 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth, Eastlack and LaRochelle combined to shoot 8 of 13 from the free-throw line. As a team, Rangeley made 18 of 31 at the line for the game compared to the Saints’ 6 of 12 shooting.
Russell said that after playing five games the previous week, the Lakers had heavy legs early in the game but found their rhythm in the second half.
“We came out flat-footed,” Russell said. “We played five games last week and we practiced yesterday, and after I left the practice I thought, ‘Was that the best idea?’ I thought that was our first half (struggle) and we had to find ourselves offensively and defensively. We were sitting back and we needed to be aggressive on defense. The defense allows us to have easy shots on offense.”
Neither team has deep a bench. Rangeley only has seven players on the varsity team and St. Dom’s had only six players eligible to play Monday.
Bella Perryman fouled out earlier in the fourth quarter, then Benedicte Yombe fouled out with two minutes left in the game, leaving St. Dom’s with just four players.
Grondin said she was proud of the Saints’ effort.
“I rotated a lot more than normal due to only having six girls tonight, and we did overcome that,” Grondin said. “Our bench player Pilar (Hewey) really stepped up. It was unfortunate that Benedicte fouled out with two minutes left and I only had four girls, but they kept playing hard.”
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