SKOWHEGAN — You can look at the game-by-game results, even study the box scores. But until you see the Cony girls basketball team play, you don’t realize how physical the Rams are.
It’s not dirty play — Cony is simply not timid, whether it’s driving to the basket, diving for loose balls, or pulling down rebounds. The Rams’ confidence, hustle, and frenetic pace unnerved Skowhegan on Friday night, and Cony earned a 49-36 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A win.
“We work on that all the time,” said Cony senior forward Melanie Guzman, who led the Rams with 16 points and added 10 rebounds. “We’re always physical with each other, all the time. It’s something we work on every single day in practice.”
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Cony (10-0) led 28-15 at halftime and by 16 early in the third quarter. Skowhegan (8-2) was able to cut the deficit to six points with plenty of time still to play, but this was of no solace to Indians coach Heath Cowan.
“I am absolutely not pleased with anything that happened in the basketball game,” Cowan said. “They’re better than we are offensively, they’re better than we are defensively, they’re better than we are in transition, and they’re better coached than we are. They outworked us in every facet of the game.”
In addition to Guzman, who was 5 of 7 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the foul line, the Rams got 15 points from Josie Lee and nine from Emily Sanford. Lee and Sanford combined to hit five 3-pointers in the first half.
Adriana Martineau scored 14 points for the Indians, Chelsey Whittemore chipped in with nine, and Andrea Quirion came off the bench for some strong minutes. But the Indians missed several layups, and allowed Cony some easy baskets on inbounds plays and by not boxing out. Skowhegan also committed 23 turnovers, to 14 for the Rams.
“I think that game should (tick) them off,” Cowan said. “I don’t think it should make anyone sad — it should make them upset that we allowed a good basketball team to come in and do whatever they wanted to in our own gym.”
Cony had a tough third quarter offensively, but held off the Indians with defense. In particular, senior Mia Diplock held Amanda Johnson, Skowhegan’s leading scorer, to six points. The Indians were within 39-33 with five minutes left, but Johnson could get open for only two shots in the fourth quarter.
“Mia Diplock had a tremendous second half against Johnson, and that’s huge for us,” Cony coach Karen Magnusson said. “Not only did (Mia) have to bring up the ball and distribute, and we try to get her to score, but she had to guard their best player, and work hard on her.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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