WATERVILLE, Me- Despite taking an 11 point lead early in the third quarter, the Waterville Purple Panthers needed a late free throw to push past the Winslow Black Raiders 42-41 in a Class B North girls basketball game at Waterville Sr. High School Friday evening.
Waterville (16-0) started strong getting an unconventional three point play from Sadie Garling directly off the opening tip just seconds into the game. The Purple Panthers scored the first seven points of the contest, but held just a 10-8 lead at the end of the opening quarter. Helped by a pair of three pointers from Garling in the second quarter, Waterville went up 26-17 at halftime. Winslow was hurt by a 3-10 effort from the foul line in the opening 16 minutes.
The Panthers scored the opening basket of the third for their biggest lead at 28-17, and held a 36-28 lead at the end of the third. The foul shooting trouble effected the home team in the final quarter as Winslow marched back into the game, as both teams were in the bonus a majority of the final eight minutes. One key player on each team fouled out in the fourth as Madeleine Martin fouled out for Waterville, and Silver Clukey fouled out for Winslow. Winslow (10-6) though took their only lead with 1:30 remaining on a Bodhi Littlefield put back layup to make it 41-40. Garling tied it on the other end with a 1-2 trip to the foul line to tie the score back up at 41-41. Lindsay Given tried to give Waterville the lead but missed a pair from the charity stripe with 46.6 seconds left, and Weslee Littlefield did the same on the other end for Winslow with 30 seconds showing on the clock. The Black Raiders got the offensive rebound and did have two shots at the basket in the lane with less than 15 seconds left but couldn’t get either to go, and Watervilles Paige St Pierre was fouled in the back court with two seconds left. St Pierre missed the first, but calmly swished the second. The desperation heave by Winslow from three quarters court came up short as time expired, and Waterville survived to remain unbeaten.
Garling led all scorers for the undefeated Purple Panthers with 15 points. Abigail Saucier added eight. Jayda Murray and Kali Thompson each chipped in five points a piece. Bodhi Littlefield led the Black Raiders with eight points. Weslee Littlefield and Grace Smith each had seven points, while Clukey and Maeghan Bernard each added six. Winslow outrebounded Waterville 30-21. Waterville went 11-27 from the line, including just 2-11 in the fourth quarter. Winslow went 7-19. Both teams committed 17 turnovers. Both teams are back in action Tuesday as Waterville hosts Belfast, and Winslow travels to Maranacook. With the win Friday, Waterville currently sits in second place in the Class B North heal point standings just behind MDI. Winslow continues to sit in seventh place.
Box:
WIN 8 9 11 13- 41
WVL 10 16 10 6- 42
Winslow (41)
B. Littlefield 3-2-8, W. Littlefield 3-0-7, Smith 2-3-7, Clukey 2-0-6, Bernard 3-0-6, Trask 2-0-5, Grenier 0-2-2, Beckwith
3 pt goals: Clukey 2, Trask, W. Littlefield
Waterville (42)
Garling 5-2-15, Saucier 3-1-8, Murray 2-1-5, Thompson 1-3-5, St Pierre 1-2-4, Martin 1-0-3, Given 0-2-2, Leclair
3 pt goals: Garling 3, Martin, Saucier
