READFIELD — A pair of sharp shooters and a stifling defense sent the Maranacook girls basketball team to victory Thursday night.
Kaleigh Kubicki and Natalie Mohlar each scored 19 points as the Black Bears defeated previously undefeated Mane Central Institute 52-37 in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class B matchup.
Maranacook, whose only loss has come to Class B champion Oceanside, improved to 3-1, while MCI (4-1) suffered its first loss of the season.
Eliza Pattershall added six points and six rebounds while she and her teammates frustrated MCI’s backcourt all night. Many an MCI pass attempt found its way into the paws of a Black Bear, as the hosts showed during a 5-0 run to end the first half with a 27-16 lead. Pattershall converted a steal into her first basket with 1:10 remaining in the half; with 20 seconds left, Mohlar picked off a long MCI pass attempt in the Maranacook zone and fired the ball to Kubicki for the layup.
Maranacook’s Katya Wurth trips over MCI’s Kayleigh Dunton’s knee during a girls basketball game Thursday in Readfield. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal
In the third quarter, Mohlar, Pattershall and Jordan Carr intercepted MCI passes as the Black Bears held the Huskies to seven points. Maranacook led 17-3 after the first quarter.
“Defensively, we got into the passing lanes, we were really, really aggressive and that transitions into our offense for us,” Maranacook coach Karen Magnusson said.
Mohlar was 6-for-8 from the free throw line and made all three of Maranacook’s 3-pointers.
Hannah Robinson led MCI with 15 points, while teammate Kayleigh Denton added nine points and a game-hit 11 rebounds.
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