Scarborough sophomore Julia Freeman goes up for a shot between a couple Sanford defenders during the Red Storm’s 58-30 home win Tuesday night.
Joe Carpine / 365digitalphotography.com photos.
More photos below.
BOX SCORE
Scarborough 58 Sanford 30
Sa- 11 6 6 7- 30
Sc- 19 13 13 13- 58
Sa- Cote 4-1-9, Allen 3-1-7, Tarbox 3-0-7, O’Connell 2-0-4, Boissonneault 1-0-3
Sc- Glidden 6-5-19, Freeman 3-1-9, Blanche 3-1-8, Dickinson 3-0-8, Couture 1-2-5, Jefferds 2-1-5, Gwyer 1-0-2, Conley 0-1-1, Panagakos 0-1-1
3-pointers:
Sa (2) Boissonneault, Tarbox 1
Sc (8) Dickinson, Freeman, Glidden 2, Blanche, Couture 1
Turnovers:
Sa- 27
Sc- 11
Free throws
Sa: 2-6
Sc: 12-19
SCARBOROUGH—Scarborough’s girls’ basketball team did what the favorite is supposed to do when it hosted Sanford Tuesday evening.
End the competitive phase of the contest quickly.
The Red Storm rode the excellence of senior captain Sophie Glidden to a 19-11 lead after one quarter and ended the second period on a 9-0 run to make it 32-17 at the break.
Scarborough would eventually stretch its run to 17-0 before leading, 45-21, after three quarters. The Red Storm, getting contributions from just about everyone on the roster, then went on and slammed the door on a 58-30 victory, their eighth in a row.
Scarborough had nine different players score and was led by 19 points from Glidden as it improved to 10-3 and in the process, dropped the Spartans to 3-11.
“We beat them earlier in the season by a lot and if you can jump on a team that you beat solidly the first time, you can put doubt in their mind and I think we did that,” said Red Storm coach Mike Giordano. “I was pleased.”
Beat goes on
Scarborough has gradually rounded into top contender form as the season has progressed.
The Red Storm started with wins at Sanford (63-23) and at home over Falmouth (46-33) before stumbling at home to Bonny Eagle (45-34) and South Portland (40-32) and at Gorham (67-53). The Red Storm then prevailed at Edward Little, 41-18, Noble, 57-43, and Cheverus, 50-48, at home over Deering (53-37) and Biddeford (41-28), at Massabesic, 52-27, and Saturday at home over Windham (64-45).
Sanford lost its first three games, beat Thornton Academy and Massabesic, then lost five straight before downing Biddeford. The Spartans’ most recent games resulted in losses to Cheverus and Bonny Eagle.
In the opener, sophomore Julia Freeman had 17 points and Glidden added 12.
Tuesday, the Red Storm made it seven straight wins in the series, pulling away as the game progressed.
A 3-pointer from Glidden just eight seconds in set the tone.
“That broke the ice,” Glidden said. “It was important to score early. It gets the offense going and gives the rest of the offense confidence.”
While Sanford rallied to take its lone lead, 4-3, on a layup from sophomore Paige Cote and a runner off the glass from junior captain Julia Allen, an old-fashioned three-point play from Glidden (layup, foul and free throw) put Scarborough ahead to stay, 6-4.
Sophomore Madison Blanche added a left-handed runner and after the Spartans got a 3-ball from senior captain Molly Boissonneault to pull within one, sophomore Bella Dickinson made a 3, Blanche set up Glidden for a layup and Glidden added a baseline jumper for a 15-7 lead.
Off an inbounds pass, Sanford got a basket back, as junior captain Megan O’Connell set up sophomore Hope Tarbox for a layup, but Glidden made a free throw and after a steal, senior Emily Jefferds made a layup while being fouled and added the free throw for the three-point play. As time expired in the frame, Cote banked home a shot, but that only cut the Spartans’ deficit to 19-11.
In the first quarter, Glidden had 11 points.
The Red Storm then forced eight second period turnovers and they opened up a bigger lead.
A 3 from Freeman got things started, but Sanford answered, as Allen made a free throw and after Freeman made one for the hosts, Tarbox sank a 3 and O’Connell banked home a runner to cut the deficit to 23-17 with 5:01 remaining in the half.
The Spartans wouldn’t score again, however, and Scarborough got the final nine points of the half, as Glidden made two free throws, Jefferds drove for a layup, Dickinson buried a 3 from the corner, then Dickinson made a jumper to make it 32-17 at the break.
Glidden led all first half scorers with 13 points, while Dickinson added eight. The Red Storm only committed three turnovers and forced Sanford to give the ball away a dozen times.
The Spartans then turned the ball over the first six times they had it in the second half and Scarborough soon built an even bigger lead.
After a Dickinson steal, she fed Freeman for a layup to open the third quarter scoring. Glidden added a 3, then Glidden scored on a putback while being fouled and added a free throw to cap a 17-0 run, making it 40-17.
Sanford ended the run and a 7 minute, 53 second scoring drought with a putback from Cote, but Blanche countered with a 3. After O’Connell went coast to coast for a layup for the Spartans, Blanche hit a leaner to extend the lead to 45-21 after three periods.
Sanford started the fourth period with a jumper from Tarbox, but Red Storm junior captain Josie Couture countered with a 3, then made two free throws.
After a Cote leaner, Blanche made a free throw, Freeman sank a 3 and freshman Kayla Conley added a foul shot for the Red Storm’s biggest lead of the night, 55-25.
Allen answered with a pair of layups and Cote added a free throw, but freshman Elaina Panagakos made a free throw and freshman Mayne Gwyer added a layup to bring the curtain down on Scarborough’s 58-30 victory.
“The first game of the season, we beat them by 40 and our coaches told us that they’ve gotten a lot better, so we knew they’d come at us,” Glidden said.
“The last couple games, our defense has been good in the second half,” said Giordano. “If we’re wearing teams down, great.”
Glidden led the way with 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
“Sophie’s a leader,” Giordano said. “We look for her to make big shots for us.”
Freeman added nine points (to go with four rebounds and three steals), Blanche (six rebounds, four assists and two blocked steals) and Dickinson (six steals and five rebounds) had eight points apiece, Couture and Jefferds had five each, Gwyer finished with two and Conley (six rebounds) and Panagakos had one apiece.
Junior Leah Dickman didn’t score, but had four rebounds and two blocks.
Scarborough was playing without senior Lindsey Kelley, who was injured against Windham, and the team’s myriad contributions was a pleasant surprise.
“Lindsey’s a spitfire, so that’s a big loss for us, but other girls can come in and do a good job,” Glidden said. “Julia and Emily and Kayla all gave us good minutes. They all make us better in practice.”
“To get to play everybody late in the season, that’s great,” Giordano said “We’re trying to build depth. I was pleased with the effort from everybody. It’s cool to see the starters support the kids who work so hard to support them.”
The Red Storm had a 42-41 rebounding advantage, made 12 of 19 free throws and only turned the ball over 11 times.
Sanford was led by Cote’s nine points and six rebounds. Allen (seven boards) and Tarbox both had seven points, while O’Connell added four (to go with seven rebounds) and Boissonneault had three. Freshman Jillian Lizotte didn’t score, but had seven rebounds and four blocks and freshman Abby Toothaker had five rebounds.
The Spartans were hindered by 27 turnovers and made just two of six free throws.
Nearing the end
Sanford (seventh in the Class AA South Heal Points standings at press time) hopes to bounce back Friday when it hosts Maine Girls’ Academy.
Scarborough (second in the region behind South Portland) plays at Kennebunk Friday and is back home Tuesday of next week against Lewiston. Games at Portland and Thornton Academy and at home versus Maine Girls’ Academy close the season.
“Our intensity is really good and we’re getting more consistent,” Glidden said. “Focusing on defense is a big reason for that. We have to do that because South Portland and Gorham can score a lot of points. We want to finish strong.”
“We just need to be more consistent on the defensive end,” said Giordano. “We have some big ones coming up. That will determine where we finish. We’ll take them one at a time. It’s all in front of us.”
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports
Scarborough senior Sophie Glidden, who led all scorers with 19 points, goes up over Sanford junior Megan O’Connell for a shot.
Scarborough sophomore Madison Blanche floats a shot over a pair of Sanford defenders.
Scarborough junior Josie Couture goes up in traffic.
Scarborough sophomore Bella Dickinson throws the ball over Sanford sophomore Hope Tarbox.
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