Winthrop's Caroline Corgan, left, and Richmond's Darby Flanagan battle for a rebound. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

WINTHROP — Walking out of the locker room of Poulin Gym, John Baehr was ready for some much-needed rest.

He and the Winthrop girls basketball team had just wrapped up their 16th game of the regular season, a dominant 43-15 victory over Richmond on Wednesday on Senior Night.

Senior forward Madeline Wagner scored a game-high 16 points and senior guard Ella Rice added seven for the Ramblers (12-4), who have won 10 out of their last 11 games and sit at the top of the Class C South Heal point standings.

“No one wants to lose their senior game,” Rice said. “(The team) all held behind us and helped us get the win.”

“I could eat my words, but I think we’re at a place now where we could use a rest,” said Baehr, Winthrop’s coach. “Our legs are tired; our minds are tired. … We’ve been in the gym six days a week since before Thanksgiving.”

Richmond (7-6) was led by senior forward Darby Flanagan, who scored eight points, pulled down 10 rebounds and had eight blocks. Sophomore Olivia Mason scored four points and had 10 rebounds.

Winthrop has grinded through its season with strong defensive play. The Ramblers have allowed 32.9 points per game, including just 28.6 points per game in their past eight games. Against the Bobcats, Winthrop forced 40 turnovers, mixing a press defense early in the game before backing into a zone late.

“We’re really trying to connect together, trust each other (on the floor),” Wagner said. “That’s really coming along in our defense.”

“I’m very happy with the defensive effort,” Baehr said. “We’ve gotten better as a whole. It’s just finding that fifth, sixth, seventh person (to round out the depth), get connected (on the floor) and trust each other. That’s when they start really looking good.”

The Ramblers have also shown an ability to hit the 3-pointer. They hit four in the first quarter Wednesday night, with Wagner, Rice and freshman guard Bella Baehr each knocking down shots from beyond the arc.

“It’s good that we have multiple people on the floor that we can look to score,” Wagner said. “Everyone is confident. We don’t care who’s on the floor, if they take a 3, we’re confident in them, we trust them (to score).”

“That’s the one thing (we need), is everyone needs to be a scorer, everyone needs to be a rebounder, and everyone needs to be a passer,” John Baehr said. “When we’re at our best (offensively), everyone is touching the ball, and everyone is scoring.”

The Ramblers have just two regular-season games left in the final two weeks of the season, both on the road. They travel to Old Orchard Beach on Jan. 28, before heading to Waterville on Feb. 6. Though they’ll lack game action during that span, it’s a chance to heal bumps and bruises, acquired during their rough 16-game stretch, before the C South tournament.

“We’re definitely looking forward to the day off,” Rice said with a laugh. “We’re really only off on Sundays. Every other day, we’re six or seven hours in the gym, either with (helping the youth league) or with practice. I think we’re really excited to get a little time off.”