Lawrence girls basketball pulls away from Erskine in regular-season finale

Lawrence’s Maddie Provost makes a one-handed pass around Erskine’s Kinsey Ulmer during their game Thursday in Fairfield. Lawrence won, 69-48. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

FAIRFIELD — In a wide-open Class B North, anything from the No. 3 seed to the No. 8 was possible for the Lawrence girls basketball team with one game remaining in the regular season.

Lawrence was determined to get the best of those scenarios — and on Thursday, the Bulldogs did just that with a win that will have them feeling good as they head to Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center for the regional tournament.

Lawrence pulled away to earn a 69-48 victory over Erskine Academy in the regular-season finale at Folsom Gymnasium. The Bulldogs got 30 points and 11 rebounds from Maddie Provost and 22 points and 12 boards from Ashley Shores to all but wrap up the No. 3 spot.

“It was a total team effort,” said Provost, one of six Lawrence seniors playing in their final game at Folsom Gym. “When it’s your last game here, you kind of play with your whole heart. We had a fun time, and it was good to get the win.”

HOW LAWRENCE DID IT

• Provost and Shores stepped up one last time at home. Although it wasn’t senior night, which Lawrence (13-5) held last Friday against Messalonskee, the Bulldogs got big games from their senior stars. Provost buried six 3-pointers and Shores made 9 of 10 free throws.

“We said before the game, ‘Seniors, this is your last game at Folsom Gymnasium, and if we go out there and lay it all on the line, we’re going to win,’” Lawrence coach Greg Chesley said. “We knew if we competed and played hard, we were going to be in good shape, and they did that.”

• Defense. After Erskine (14-4) took a 4-2 lead, Lawrence held the Eagles to two points the rest of the first quarter and held a 14-6 lead. Another strong defensive spell in the third stretched the margin to 16, and the Bulldogs held the visitors to 11 points in the fourth.

“(We were able to) get into the passing lanes and steal the ball without fouling,” Shores said. “I was getting pushed around, and I’m trying to box out and just get rebounds — I’m trying to fight for it.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Assuming Lawrence is the No. 3 seed in the Class B North tournament, the Bulldogs would play next Friday in Bangor. They’ll enter it on a three-game winning streak after dropping four of eight games between Jan. 5-27.

• After playing at the Augusta Civic Center since 2006, Lawrence now prepares for postseason competition at a different venue, the Cross Insurance Center. Shores called the change “a fresh start,” while Chesley noted the Bulldogs’ history in the Queen City, where Cindy Blodgett dominated in the 1990s.

“We have a strong community following, and I think it’s going to be a great thing for the community to get to a new venue and get to see us in action there,” Chesley said. “We loved the Augusta Civic Center, but Bangor is a pretty nice facility, and I think it’ll be great for the girls to get a chance to play up there.”

• Erskine, the Class B North runner-up last year, must now win a prelim game to return to the Cross Center. The No. 8 Eagles will host ninth-seeded Cony at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Erskine defeated Cony 65-42 last Friday.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into a groove and find a way to stop them tonight,” said Erskine coach Danielle Lefferts. “We’re going to have to stick together and get back to who we are as a team.”

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

“Maddie and Ashley deserve all the props; they worked so hard for Lawrence for four years. It’s always tough to come into Lawrence with the energy and the environment, and we just happened to be the team they got to face them in their last home hurrah.” — Danielle Lefferts