NEWPORT — Michelle Paradis laughed about it after the game, but since being loud worked, her Nokomis Regional High School girls basketball team might hear Paradis bark more often.
“We’ve been having problems trying to get ourselves fired up, so I asked the team at the beginning what would get them fired up. They told me I need to yell and scream at that more,” Paradis said. “And that’s not what I like to do, but it was more yelling and screaming on defensive intensity and getting up on the ball and ball pressure.”
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When the Warriors ramped up their defensive intensity and crashed the boards against Winslow on Tuesday night, they controlled the game. And while Nokomis led in regulation for just seven seconds, the Warriors hit big free throws in overtime to take a 42-39 win.
Both teams are now 9-7 in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B play.
Nokomis took the lead for good with 7.1 seconds left in overtime when freshman Chelsea Crockett made a pair of foul shots for a 41-39 lead. Crockett said she wasn’t nervous when she stepped to the line.
“I knew my team had my back, so I was all right,” Crockett said.
Following a Winslow turnover with 3.4 seconds left, Mikayla Charters (13 points) made a free throw to give the Warriors the three point cushion. Winslow’s desperation halfcourt shot hit the gym ceiling as time expired.
“We knocked down a couple of shots, and we had some big rebounds, and when momentum changes for us, we kind of just roll with it and keep going,” Paradis said.
The game was tied at 34-34 at the end of regulation, and Winslow took a 36-35 lead 32 seconds into overtime on a Heather Kervin (21 points) basket. Charters gave Nokomis the lead back 19 seconds later when she was fouled while making a layup. With 2:23 left in OT, Crockett’s baseline jumper gave the Warriors a 39-36 lead.
Winslow’s Devin Fitzgibbons made a pair of foul shots with 33.5 seconds left to tie the game at 39. Winslow lead by as many as six points in the third quarter before Nokomis rallied to pull within a point, 26-25, going into the fourth.
“We didn’t believe. We didn’t believe in each other or ourselves,” Winslow coach Lindsey Welch said. “The first half, we rebounded well, played great defense, played defense with our feet. The second half, we just started doing individual stuff, and not rebounded. They killed us on their offensive end. That’s not us, but we let it happen.”
Olivia Brown converted an old-fashioned three point play with 2:13 left in the fourth quarter to give Nokomis that seven second lead, 34-32, before Delaney Wood made a pair of foul shots for the Black Raiders to tie the game with 2:06 left for the final points of regulation. Winslow had a chance for the win as the fourth quarter expired, but Wood’s 3-point try was short.
Along with her 13 points, Charters had 10 rebounds. Sidney Moore scored 11 points for Nokomis, while Crockett added nine.
Kervin had 21 points for Winslow, while Ciara LeClair grabbed seven rebounds.
Travis Lazarczyk – 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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