Monmouth Academy picked up two key wins in the last week to climb into the top five in the Western Class C Heal points standings. While a bye to the Augusta Civic Center may still be out of reach, the Mustangs could be a dangerous team in February if they continue to improve at their current rate.

The Mustangs (11-4) beat a talented Oak Hill squad, 37-32, last Saturday, then avenged a two-point loss to Hall-Dale on Jan. 20 with an 18-point win at home a week later.

“We played pretty well in that (first Hall-Dale) game but had a few defensive breakdowns,” Mustangs coach Scott Wing said. “We played pretty solid against Oak Hill. That second Hall-Dale game was the best we’ve played all year. The kids played great defense. We shot the ball well and executed well. The end-of-quarter situations, we handled very, very well.”

Defense has been a constant for Monmouth, particularly in the half court. The Mustangs have allowed just 33 points per game while winning four of their last five. The key, Wing said, has been the younger players being fundamentally sound on a more consistent basis.

Offensively, the Mustangs have spread the wealth for the most part, although junior guard Sidney Wilson has emerged as the top scoring threat.

“It’s kind of been a team effort,” Wing said. “Usually on a given night, Sidney Wilson has been pretty consistently in the 10-to-15 point range. She had 20 against Oak Hill. Last game against Hall-Dale, Tia Day had a pretty good game. Then we’ll have a bunch of other girls with six or eight points.”

The Mustangs have home games with Madison and Wiscasset sandwiched around a road contest at Telstar to wrap up the season. Wing said he hopes they will be no worse than fifth or sixth in the final Heals. Maranacook, Boothbay and Dirigo have already pretty much sewn up the top three spots, in some order, but No. 4 Old Orchard Beach is still in Monmouth’s sites.

“If we run the table, we could finish as high as four, I believe, if we get a little bit of help from the teams we’ve beaten and if Old Orchard, which lost to Traip Monday, loses another game and doesn’t get much help.”

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After a 7-0 start, Oak Hill has lost five of its last eight games, including four in a row. Coach Charlie Castonguay points to health and confidence as the biggest culprits, and both could be key to the Raiders finishing strong.

“No. 1, we’ve got to get healthy,” Oak Hill’s first-year coach said. “We’ve had a lot of sickness and injuries. It’s been a long time since I’ve had all 14 kids in practice, so we really haven’t had a lot of continuity.”

Senior center Meagan Crosby missed three games early in the season with a knee injury that could require surgery after the season. Senior forward Iris Abbott had shoulder surgery over a week ago to repair some floating cartilage and is out for the season. Junior forward Sara Noel suffered a high ankle sprain around Christmas and was out three weeks.

“She’s just kind of getting back into it now. She’s gotten better to the point where we can start her (Thursday) night at Mountain Valley,” Castonguay said. “She’s good on the boards and she can score a little bit.”

The Raiders could use a boost at the offensive end. They’ve averaged 34 points per game during the losing streak after putting up 51 points per game during the 7-0 start.

“We’ve been playing with everybody. We just haven’t been able to hit some clutch shots when we need them,” Castonguay said. “We’ve just got to be more consistent on offense. Our defense has been strong all year.”

Castonguay said his team has shown flashes of its old self for a quarter or two, but then the offense gets bogged down for a few possessions or a few shots don’t fall and the players’ confidence starts to wane.

“When you put yourself in a few of the situations we’ve put ourselves in and they don’t come out the way you want them, you start to doubt yourself,” he said. “The big thing is you’ve got to believe in yourself.”

Oak Hill will try to bounce back with a key game at Mountain Valley on Thursday, then plays its final home game of the season against Lisbon next Tuesday before closing the season at Mt. Abram next Thursday.

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The schedule offers some key matchups for the next week, weather permitting. Richmond hopes to knock Rangeley from the unbeaten ranks in Rangeley on Friday. The two teams opened the season in Richmond, and the Lakers emerged with a 46-26 win. Also on Friday, Gardiner hosts unbeaten Spruce Mountain. The Phoenix pulled out a 60-56 win in their first meeting in Jay on Dec. 19. If the Tigers don’t hand them their first loss, Maranacook will have a shot at it on Tuesday in Jay. When the teams met in Readfield on Dec. 22, Spruce Mountain handed the Black Bears their first loss of the season, 64-42.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

rwhitehouse@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @RAWmaterial33