WISCASSET — Methodical. Workmanlike.
Choose any adjective from your thesaurus in this line of words to best describe the way the Oak Hill girls’ high school basketball team pulled away for a 68-44 Mountain Valley Conference win over Wiscasset on Monday night.
In all, 12 of Tom Morong’s players saw action, with Sadie Goulet nailing three 3-pointers for a team-high 15 points, followed by 13 from Hayley Marshall, 12 from Kelsey Collins and 10 from Jamie Prue. And, the Raiders’ pressure defense caused major problems for Wiscasset (0-4), which had 36 turnovers in all.
“We got what we wanted, and I knew these kids were going to get good balance,” said Morong, whose 3-2 squad hosts Carrabec on Wednesday. “Sometimes the press gets us out of control on the offensive end, and we had some foul trouble early in the second half. But, once I was able to get my post players back in, we started to play well with our inside-outside game.
“Wiscasset did a nice job early, but I thought the pressure would get to them and it finally did.”
“A couple minutes before halftime we were down just three (20-17), but they hit some long jump shots and went on a couple runs,” said Wiscasset coach Patrick Quinn, whose Wolverines will look to get into the win column on Friday at home against Winthrop. “When we give up a lot of points in a row, it is a bit disheartening and it carries over to our defense.”
Raiders make runs
The opening quarter featured two lead changes and two ties. Briana Goud nailed a trey for a 4-2 Wiscasset lead, and Miranda McIntire’s putback made for a 6-4 Wiscasset advantage.
Oak Hill answered, using an 11-4 run to take a 15-10 lead at the end of a quarter.
Wiscasset hung around in the second quarter, thanks to eight points from Kayla Gordon. Her basket with 2:49 remaining until halftime drew the Wolverines to 20-17. Again, the Raiders used a run to close a quarter, this time heading to the break on a 9-4 spurt for a 29-21 edge at the intermission.
“We drove a lot and finally used our pressure to give them difficulties and that led us to a lot of steals,” said Marshall, who had four thefts and a game-high 11 points at halftime. “We are definitely going up the ladder. We started rough with a tough loss to Monmouth, but we have worked hard in practice. We talked at halftime to stay under control after coming out rather frantic. We were in much better control of ourselves in the second half.”
Despite Collins and Grace Sabine picking up their fourth fouls in the third quarter, Oak Hill extended its lead into double digits. Brianna Mulherin came off the Raiders bench to score four points in the quarter, and a 3-pointer by Goulet late in the frame gave Oak Hill a 43-29 lead after 24 minutes.
Turnovers continued to haunt Wiscasset, which was missing starting guard Alecia Faulkingham.
“Madison, Spruce Mountain and Oak Hill have the best pressure in the conference, and we have already played two of those teams, which will make us better in the long run,” said Quinn, whose Wolverines had several good possessions in the third frame but made just two of 10 at the charity stripe. “We tried to be strong and drew some fouls, but those misses (at the line) just killed possessions.”
Oak Hill put any thought of a Wiscasset comeback to rest, using an 11-0 run for a 65-38 lead. Goulet finished strong, potting nine fourth-quarter points, with Collins adding six.
“I think we are where we want to be, but every game coming up is big, with Carrabec and Hall-Dale next,” Morong said.
Oak Hill shot 38 percent (24 of 62) from the floor and made 15 of 26 from the foul line, including 11 of 18 in the fourth quarter. Goulet had a game-high six steals, while Sabine pulled down seven rebounds and dished out three assists.
For Wiscasset, Gordon led with 15 points, with Goud chipping in eight and McIntire six. The Wolverines were 17 of 59 (28 percent) from the floor and struggled to an eight-for-19 performance at the free-throw line.
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