The Brunswick High girls’ basketball team made history Saturday afternoon. And the Dragons did it in style.

Dakota Shipley had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Lexi Morin added 12 points, and Brunswick overwhelmed Cony, 54-30, to win the Class A title at Cross Insurance Arena and earn its first state championship.

It was the largest margin of victory in a Class A final since 2017, when Messalonskee defeated Brunswick, 58-33, and it came after Cony (14-8) took an 8-0 lead to start the game.

Once the Dragons (20-2) got rolling, however, they couldn’t be stopped.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Morin said. “It fills my heart. … We’ve worked really hard as a team, on and off the court. We’ve put so much energy into playing basketball, and we’re so happy to be back and finally bring home the Gold Ball.”

It was a victory that, for the players, was a year in the making. Brunswick reached the Class A final last year but fell to Lawrence, 58-43. The disappointment they felt lingered throughout the offseason and turned into motivation when they returned to the court.

“Right when we came back for the season, we came back for revenge,” Shipley said.

The finale of the “revenge tour,” as Morin called it leading up to the final, didn’t get off to an encouraging start. Cony’s Morgan Cunningham (17 points) hit two early 3-pointers and turned a Morgan Fichthorn steal into a transition layup, and Brunswick was down 8-0 two minutes into the game.

 

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Sam Farrell, the Dragons’ coach, didn’t panic.

“They know I don’t call timeouts early, I want them to fight their way out of it,” he said. “I figured I’d wait to see what happened. It worked out.”

His players weren’t about to let the game get away from them again.

“We know that feeling (from last year), we knew we didn’t want to feel that again,” said forward Maddy Werner, who had six points, five rebounds and three blocks. “That motivated us to play harder and play stronger.”

Brunswick responded by scoring the next 13 points and 30 of the next 35. On offense, the Dragons used their height with lobs inside to the 6-foot Shipley or 5-10 Werner, and picked the Rams apart with their movement and cuts to the basket for easy layups.

“(We were) just moving the ball and talking,” Shipley said. “We were actually running our plays, which sometimes we don’t do … and seeing the mismatches during the game.”

The game plan called for a big game from Shipley, and the senior responded with 14 points by halftime and 21 through three quarters.

“Dakota is a fantastic teammate,” Morin said. “She’s super strong, super physical. … She was on fire going to the hoop, and we gave it to her.”

Shipley handled the scoring load, but the Dragons got everyone involved. Eva Harvie and Morin had six assists apiece.

“Keep moving the ball, and you get great shots,” Farrell said. “Our two losses this year, we shot under 20%. We couldn’t have that today, and we didn’t.”

On defense, Brunswick’s 2-3 zone got in the space of shooters, and the Dragons’ height restricted looks near the basket. After starting 3 for 3, Cony went 2 for 19 the rest of the first half.

“We were just getting one shot, one and done, and they’d rebound and move it up the court,” Cony Coach John Dennett said. “They’ve been playing together a long time; it’s a great basketball team.”

The second half was a coronation, as Brunswick’s lead reached 30 points. Moments later, it was time to celebrate at last.

“I’m just so giddy watching the girls celebrate,” Farrell said. “It’s a win for the whole town, the school, and the hundreds of girls that have come through.”

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