Lawrence girls basketball runs away from Cony in second half

Lawrence’s Maddie Provost drives while pressured by Cony defender Kya Douin during Tuesday’s game in Fairfield. Provost scored 25 points in a 53-37 win. (Rich Abrahamson/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

FAIRFIELD — Maddie Provost scored 16 points in the second half to help the Lawrence girls basketball team pull away for a 53-37 win over Cony in a Class B North game Tuesday night.

Provost, a commit to NCAA Division I Holy Cross next year, finished with 25 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (9-4). Senior forward Ashley Shores added 14 points and eight rebounds.

“Our goal was to defend and get some rebounds, just fan out our offense,” Provost said. “I think we really did that well at the start.”

Kya Douin scored 16 points and grabbed five rebounds for Cony (8-6). Senior Jaylynn Carver added nine points, while sophomore Gabriella Vachon scored four points and had nine rebounds.

“It’s nice (to win), Cony’s a good team,” Lawrence coach Greg Chesley said. “They’re young and getting better every game this year. They had a tough schedule early in the year, but watching their games as of late, they’re playing everyone tough. Kya Douin is a heck of a player, we threw everything (defensively) at her.”

The Bulldogs led by seven at the half and outscored the Rams 28-19 in the second half.

“I think we were able to penetrate (the lane) really well tonight, and that opened up a lot for us on the perimeter and inside,” Provost said.

How did they get there?

Defense and rebounding. After graduating 6-foot forwards Lilly Gray and Nadia Morrison, Lawrence entered the season searching for new ways to dominate the boards. On Tuesday night, it was a group effort, with Provost and Shores leading the way. Junior guard Amiah Laweryson also had six rebounds.

“Our coach really (emphasized) rebounding (at halftime) and not letting them get second-chance shots,” Shores said.

Added Chelsey: “Rebounds haven’t been automatic for us anymore. We’ve really been focusing on some lockdown defense. Maybe we can’t run out of it, but we can create. We can take (opponent’s) easy opportunities away. That’s what we did tonight.”

Lawrence also forced 23 turnovers, 12 in the first half.

Key moment

Lawrence went on a 9-0 run in the first quarter and took an 18-8 lead into the second on a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer by Provost.

“I knew that one was going in, usually I can tell,” Provost said.

What does it mean?

The win was a nice bounce-back for Lawrence after a 74-60 loss to Gardiner on Jan. 17. The Bulldogs entered Tuesday night as the No. 7 seed in Class B North and could possibly jump over No. 6 Presque Isle.

Cony entered as the No. 8 seed and should, at worst, drop to No. 9 in the standings and remain in the B North tournament race. The Rams have a win over No. 3 Hermon to help in Heal points and also have a victory over C South standout Maranacook.