AUGUSTA — It can be a pretty amazing feeling when you put up a jump shot and watch it swish through the net at a key moment.

Lauren Guppy watched her shot do just that late in the first quarter Saturday.

She enjoyed it so much, she wanted to do it again. That feeling became contagious for her Mt. Blue teammates.

“Once I made the first one, I kind of got fired up,” the junior guard said. “I had some confidence in my shot. Then I was able to make the other ones.”

Guppy, along with senior Rachelle Bator, helped ignite the Cougars’ offense off the bench in the first half, and Mt. Blue went on to beat Cony 61-24.

“I just realized that our team wasn’t doing so well,” Bator said. “We needed to pick up the pace. Coach said to be a spark on the team and get us going on defense.”

The Mt. Blue bench accounted for half of the team’s points. Bator finished with 13 while Guppy had eight. Junior starting guard Caitlin Kane led the Cougars with a game-high 17 points. She also had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

“At halftime, I complimented Lauren Guppy and Rachelle Bator for excellent minutes in the first half,” Mt. Blue coach Gavin Kane said. “I thought they really provided us a big spark and really got us going. That gave us the ability to open the lead before halftime.”

Autumn Sudsbury and Elizabeth Dennision led Cony (1-8) with six points each.

Mt. Blue (4-3) started the game missing its first five shots. The Cougars had some good looks but missed some quality opportunities. That allowed the Rams to stay close. Kane had seven of her team’s 13 points in the first quarter but the Cougars shot just 4-for-16.

“We got after it pretty good defensively to start the ballgame, but we couldn’t cash those in for scores. There were three easy bunnies in the first couple of minutes of the game that could have gotten us out to a quicker lead.”

After baskets by Dennison and Cari Hopkins got Cony within 8-7, Mt. Blue ran off six straight for a 13-9 lead to end the quarter. After a Kane free throw, Guppy hit a jumper with 42 seconds left to open the lead. Then Bator followed with a steal and basket with 30 seconds left.

“I think once we all started making our shots, I think it really helped the team more,” Guppy said.

A Cony 3 from Sydney Cheever made it 13-12 to open the second quarter, but the Cougars scored 13 straight to build a 26-12 lead at halftime. Guppy hit another jumper and then scored off a steal. Kane followed with a basket off an Eryn Doiron pass for a 19-12 lead. After a free throw from Mackenzie Harris, Emilee Eustis finished off a nice transition play. Kane scored on a rebound, and Bator converted a steal for the 26-12 lead.

“I felt like at that point, everybody was ready to pick it up,” said Bator, who also had seven steals and three assists. “The defense was helping us a lot, and everybody kind of came together.”

Cony struggled to keep pace. After shooting 3-for-8 in the first quarter, the Rams were 1-for-9 in the second with 15 turnovers in the first half.

Cony got within 12 early in the third but the Rams also had 12 turnovers in the quarter. The Cougars maintained the lead the rest of the way. Bator had seven points in the third while Kane had six. Eustis and Addie Brinkman added baskets. Then in the fourth, Moesha Harrington had a pair while Guppy, Doiron, Bator and Harris all hit field goals.

“We were able to relax,” Guppy said. “We weren’t so tense like at the beginning of the game.”

The bench players totalled 30 points and nine different players scored for the Cougars. Harris added five points off the bench.

“Our bench is a big part of our team,” Bator said. “They help pick up what’s on the floor.”

After two tough losses to Lawrence and Bangor, the Cougars were glad to get on the winning side of things and maintain position in the top five in Eastern A. It was also a positive to see the young squad continue to progress. The Cougars have only four seniors.

“It was a good opportunity to get a lot of kids some minutes,” Kane said. “I was very pleased with the play of the kids coming off the bench for us.”

kmills@sunjournal.com