MADISON — The first time the Madison and Carrabec girls basketball teams played this season, Madison overcame a strong defensive effort by the Cobras to escape with a three-point victory Dec. 8. In Monday’s rematch, the Bulldogs offense couldn’t match Carrabec’s defensive intensity.
The Cobras forced 24 Madison turnovers and had 13 steals to take a 49-35 Mountain Valley Conference win. Carrabec improved to 5-4, while Madison fell to 7-3.
“We finally were patient with the ball, and didn’t try to force. They did a nice job,” Carrabec coach Skip Rugh said.
Madison led 10-9 early in the second quarter as both teams opened the game cold from the field. When Sydney LeBlanc had to go to the Bulldogs bench with her third foul at 5:50 of the second quarter, the Cobras took control. Carrabec closed the first half with an 11-2 run to take a 20-12 lead in the half.
“I think we all hustled a lot more. We all came together. We were as one tonight,” said Carrabec sophomore forward Bailey Dunphy, who scored seven of her game-high 15 points in the second quarter. “Everybody was trying. Everybody was one unit tonight. It was great.”
The Cobras kept the pressure on in the second half, opening the third quarter with an 8-0 run. Carrabec’s quick hands on defense was matched by patience on offense, as the Cobras waited for the open shot — be it a short jumper or off a backdoor cut — on nearly every possession.
“We gave up (38) points in the first game, so it was about the same. We couldn’t score in the first game. We struggled and we had more turnovers than we should have (in the first Madison game),” Rugh said.
Dunphy and Mickayla Willette each had four steals for the Cobras. Willette added 11 rebounds, helping Carrabec hold a 39-27 advantage on the boards.
The Bulldogs cut the deficit to 10 points — 35-25 — at the end of the third quarter, but that was as close as Madison could get. Unlike Carrabec, when the Bulldogs got open shots, they didn’t fall.
“I thought we had some good looks, and we just didn’t get the ball in the basket when we needed to,” Madison coach Al Veneziano said. “(Carrabec) played very well tonight. They have some quick players, they play good defense. I thought they were exceptional tonight on the defensive end.”
Katie Stevens added 10 points for the Cobras, all in the second half, and grabbed eight rebounds. Willette also scored 10 points.
Kayla Bess led Madison with eight points. Emily Oliver added seven points for the Bulldogs.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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