LINCOLN- Lauren House hit a go ahead free throw with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, as the Mattanawcook Academy Lynx held off the Central Red Devils 60-58 in a girls Class C basketball matchup played at Mattanawcook Academy.
In a back and forth first half, Mattanawcook would end the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. Some good balanced scoring got Central right back in it in the second. Alexis Whitty had six points, and Izzy Allen and Madison Pinkham had five each as the Red Devils would take their first lead since midway through the first on a Pinkham basket at 21-20. Two late free throws by Rylee Speed would give the guests a 27-25 halftime edge.
The third quarter had five lead changes. Mattanawcook (4-2) started the period on a 9-2 run capped off by a rebound and putback layup by Addison Cyr for the biggest lead at 34-29 Lynx. A basket by Izzy Allen and also 1-2 from the line gave Central back a brief 38-37 lead. The third ended after Allen missed the second of a two shot foul at the line, and MA raced the ball up the floor and would get a three-pointer that was banked off the glass and in by Megan House at the buzzer for a 41-39 advantage. Much like the third quarter, the teams swapped leads early in the fourth. A steal and layup by freshman Mary Allen gave the Red Devils their biggest lead of the day 47-43. But the home Lynx would quickly change that. A 6-0 run by Mattanawcook finished off by a layup by Kaitlyn Thornton restored a 49-47 lead. After Izzy Allen tied it on the next possession, Lauren House hit 1-2 from the line to put her home team ahead for good. The Red Devils would still hang around within one or two points down the stretch, and had a chance to tie in the final seconds on a jumper by Izzy Allen that was short and hit the front of the rim. Speed was able to gather in the rebound though and was fouled and would head to the charity stripe to again try to tie it with 1.1 seconds remaining. Speed missed the first shot, and then after a Central timeout she would miss the second on purpose hoping for a rebound by her or a teammate but Chloe Wotton grabbed it to run out the clock for Mattanawcook.
Izzy Allen led Central in the loss with 25 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Whitty added 11, and Mary Allen ended up with 10 points and eight rebounds. Pinkham also contributed six points off the bench, as the Red Devils fall to 6-2. Thornton, Megan House, and Jennie Whitten had 10 points each in the win for Mattanawcook. Thornton and Whitten had eight rebounds each. Lauren House finished with eight points. There was a total of 28 missed free throws between the two teams. Central returns to action on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. when they host Stearns, while Mattanawcook will host George Stevens Academy next Friday at 6:30.
CEN (6-2) 7 20 12 19- 58
MAT (4-2) 13 12 16 19- 60
Rebounds- Central 27, MA 37
Free throws- Central 21-34, MA 14-29
Three-point goals- Central: Pinkham, Mary Allen, Izzy Allen/ MA: Megan House 2, Chloe Wotten, Lauren House
Recap and photos/video by Chris Lessner
