Lawrence’s Ashely Shores, right, fights for a loose ball with Skowhegan’s Natalie Gilman, center, and Annabelle Morris during Monday's game in Fairfield. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

FAIRFIELD — The experience might not be there, but even when not everything goes perfectly, the Lawrence girls basketball team has shown it has everything else.

Size; guard play; explosiveness; defensive tenacity. You name it, a Lawrence team that looks almost alien from the one that won a Gold Ball a year ago has it this year. It’s been different, the Bulldogs will admit, but it’s hard to argue with results like their 47-38 victory over Skowhegan on Monday.

“It’s so different, and we had a lot of pressure on us at the beginning of the season, but we learned a lot last year from their leadership and looking up to them,” said Lawrence forward Nadia Morrison. “Now, it’s kind of our turn, and it’s been really easy to flow into it. It’s going great.”

Lawrence got 12 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks from Morrison and a game-high 17 points from Maddie Provost, who scored 12 in the second quarter as the Bulldogs pulled away after a tight game in the first. Annabelle Morris had 16 points and five rebounds for Skowhegan.

Lawrence (11-0) struggled offensively in the first quarter but still stayed in front thanks to Morrison’s dominance on the glass. The 6-foot forward pulled down seven rebounds in the opening period alone and scored six of the Bulldogs’ 10 points in the frame as the home team took a 10-7 lead into the second.

“I wanted to come out on fire,” Morrison said. “We’ve started out the last few games a little bit slow, so we wanted to come out fast and show that energy. Skowhegan is a good team, and they’re always one of our biggest competitors, so I was feeling that fire. We really wanted to win.”

Skowhegan’s Allie Frey drives the ball down the court against Lawrence defender Nadia Morrison during Monday’s game in Fairfield. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

From there, Provost took over, scoring eight of Lawrence’s first 12 points of the second quarter to mark a 16-0 run. Skowhegan (5-6) then ended a scoring drought of 7 minutes, 24 seconds on a Morris free throw, but four more points from Provost in the period put the Bulldogs up 29-14 at the break.

“We were able to get some open shots; I found my teammates, and my teammates found me, and we really gained momentum,” Provost said. “It’s just about confidence — confidence in myself, confidence in my teammates and confidence in our coaching staff — and I think we have that.”

Skowhegan got back within single digits late in the third quarter at 35-27, but Lawrence then went on a 10-0 run to go up 18 with just under six minutes to play. The Bulldogs didn’t score over the final 4 1/2 minutes, but the River Hawks failed to pull back within single digits until just 21 seconds remained.

Lawrence’s biggest success came on the glass, as it outrebounded Skowhegan 41-30. In addition to Morrison’s 14 boards, the Bulldogs also got seven from Lilly Gray and eight from Kaylee Elkins as they kept the River Hawks from getting second-chance points and got plenty of their own at the other end.

“We have good size, and Nadia and Lilly are used to those battles because they did in practice last year against Bri (Poulin) and Cromm (Elizabeth Crommett, both since graduated),” said Lawrence head coach Greg Chesley. “That’s done nothing but helped us all year. We’re rebounding really well right now.”

Lawrence has now won 16 games in a row since losing to Gardiner on Feb. 7, 2023. A Class A state championship run followed, and even if the players on the floor are largely different this year, they’ve shown in games such in Monday’s that they’re still the team to beat in the region.

“We’re just really motivated right now,” Morrison said. “We took what we had at the beginning of the year and put it together, and it’s just been working out for us. We want to keep winning, and we want to keep our streak going.”

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