Edward Little’s Grace Fontaine is fouled by Cheverus’ Lauren Jordan during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
AUBURN — Edward Little is never shy about shooting 3-pointers, but when they’re going in at the rate they were in the first half of Friday night’s AA North game against Cheverus, who would blame them?
The Red Eddies made eight of 16 3-point shots in the first half to run away from the Stags early and cruise to a 65-37 win.
Grace Fontaine poured in 23 points to go with six rebounds and six steals for the Red Eddies (2-1). Jade Perry added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Hannah Chaput 14 points for EL.
Lauren Jordan paced the Stags (0-3) with seven points and eight rebounds.
EL started hitting from long range early. Back-to-back 3s by Chaput and Perry put the lead into double digits first and for good at 14-4.
Chaput made three 3s, Fontaine two and Perry one as the Eddies made six of 11 in the first quarter while opening up a 22-6 lead.
“When we make them, we just keep on shooting them,” Fontaine said. “And we practice them a lot in practice for these situations.”
“When a team is shooting like that, there’s not much you can do,” Cheverus coach Brian Heal said. “We tried to get out and bother them. I think in the second half we did a better job of making them put the ball on the floor and go to spots where they weren’t as comfortable, but they’re a real good team.”
EL’s full-court pressure made the young Stags uncomfortable, helping to force nine turnovers in the first quarter and 17 in the first half. The Eddies’ half-court zone defense was pretty tough, too, limiting the Stags to 3-for-17 shooting in the half.
“I think this was the best press we’ve had,” Fontaine said. “We had a lot of energy and we were just really focused. We were in our spots and pressed really good.”
“If we can rattle them early, that usually helps get our feet under ourselves, too,” EL coach Chris Cifelli said. “We feed off of that emotion of the turnovers leading to easy baskets, too, and when the 3s are falling, that makes it even easier to get up.”
Fontaine converted a steal into a layup for the Eddies’ only two-point basket of the first half as they extended the margin to 36-14 at halftime.
“We prepared for (the press), but we didn’t execute very well,” Heal said. “We’re such a young group, and I think that’s a factor. I’ve got one senior. I’ve got a couple of juniors that play and we’ve got a lot of freshmen and sophomores in our regular rotation and I think that might have shocked them a little bit.”
EL called off the firing squad and cooled off significantly from 3-point territory in the second half (1-for-8), missing their first four attempts before Fontaine drilled the first to make it 44-19.
“We really do try to work inside-out,” Cifelli said, “but they started out in a 1-3-1. We had talked about the things we wanted to do, and we were just really fortunate (shots) were falling. And then it was almost surprising that we struggled once they went back to man. We had to get our feet back under us.”
Edward Little’s Caroline Hammond looks to the basket past Cheverus’ Alex Hammond during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. Meg Kelly watches the play from the center. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Caroline Hammond looks for a teammate while being guarded by Cheverus’ Hayley Jordan during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Chantel Ouellette passes the ball to a teammate past Cheverus’ Hayley Jordan during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Grace Fontaine goes up for a basket in a seas of purple Cheverus players during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Mikaela Scott keeps the ball away form Cheverus’ Mia Kratzer during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Hannah Chaput shoots for the basket during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Brooklyn Alexander passes the ball to a teammate while being guarded by Cheverus’ Alex Hammond during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
Edward Little’s Brooklyn Alexander passes the ball around Cheverus’ Hayley Jordan during Friday night’s basketball game in Auburn. (Sun Journal photo by Andree Kehn)
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