WATERVILLE — Four minutes into Friday night’s boys basketball game, Winslow had made four 3-pointers. Waterville, on the other hand, had burned through three timeouts.

It was that kind of night. The Black Raiders couldn’t miss, and the Purple Panthers couldn’t think straight.

Winslow never trailed, hit 11 3-pointers and forced 30 turnovers, taking a 67-46 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B win over its biggest rival.

“This is the first game we’ve come out hot like that,” said Winslow guard Trevor Lovely, who made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points. “(Justin) Murray got that first three, and we just kept hitting … The rivalry got us pumped.”

Winslow (2-1) led 27-10 after one quarter, and while Waterville (1-2) chipped away, cutting the deficit to 12 points early in the fourth, the Black Raiders’ were never threatened.

“That’s our game, drive the ball and look to score, and if the shooters are open, they all have the green light,” Winslow coach Jared Browne said.

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“They had more kids step up than we did,” Waterville coach Jason Briggs said. “When you don’t play fundamental basketball, that’s the outcome.”

Winslow’s fullcourt pressure helped force 12 turnovers in the first quarter. Lovely and Murray (15 points) each had four steals, while Brandon Labrie added three.

“We wanted to try and create turnovers, because we want as many possessions as possible,” Browne said. “That’s the best our press has looked since we put it in in the preseason.”

Down 19 points in the second quarter, Waterville went on a 9-0 run to pull within 10 points, 33-23, with 2:39 left in the second quarter. The Black Raiders closed the half with a 7-2 run to lead 40-25 at the break.

Austin Ireland scored 11 points, seven in the fourth quarter, and grabbed 11 rebounds for Winslow.

Max Brown led the Panthers with 12 points, while J.P. Michaud had 10 rebounds.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com


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