By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

KENNEBUNK — Seeing his team score just 1, 2, 3 and 7 points in four quarters at Kennebunk Friday night, Fryeburg Academy Coach Sean Watson easily chalked up the loss to the Rams as the “worst” defeat he has experienced while at the Raider helm.

Believe it or not, putting up just 13 points wasn’t what really bothered Coach Watson.

“I know it sounds crazy when we only scored 13 points, but I was much more concerned about our play on the defensive end. We reached a lot more on defense than we have recently. We were slow to rotate and we failed to get to our help position much of the night,” he said of the 40-13 loss to Kennebunk. “We are the type of team that needs to generate offense from our defense and we didn’t do that. We are going to try to crank up the competition level in practice today (Monday) and see how that goes.”

The loss was the second straight for the Raiders, falling to 4-3.

For the Raiders, Nicole Bennett was high scorer with 4 points, while Alyssa Allen had 3, Mackenzie Buzzell 2, Zoe Bodwell 2 and Merys Carty 2.

Kennebunk jumped out quickly to an 11-1 lead and pushed it to 18-3 at the half.

“We had some quality open looks early and our shots did not fall. That is going to happen at times. When the shots didn’t fall, we got in a hole and we started to settle for perimeter shots. Couple that with early foul trouble and it made for a night that I would just as soon forget,” Coach Watson said. “Our starters were one for 19 from the field for the game. I have never heard of such a result. A pure anomaly. When it rains it pours! We, coach included, made far too many mistakes. But not one of the players ever goes onto the court with the intention of performing poorly. No one tries to make mistakes. I’ve got to assume that kids are giving their best effort. If they are, then the coach has to find a way to put the kids in a better position to succeed.”

Gabby Fogg led the way for Kennebunk (5-2) with 14 points.

“If I ever watch the tape, we might be able to find something good to take from our performance, but I am not so sure,” Coach Watson added. “We have a choice to make. We can take our beating, feel sorry for ourselves, and pack it in. Or we can show up for Monday’s practice with a determination to improve and to work our tails off to get better. If I know our team, I bet we will be ready to practice on Monday and ready to play Cape on Tuesday. That’s what competitors do.”

Coach Watson did give the Rams a lot of credit for their dominating performance.

“They were tough defensively, on the boards, and they shot really well. They pressed us at appropriate times. They moved the ball well and hit their shots. Once they held a good lead, they never took their foot of the pedal,” he said. “It’s only one game of 18. We still have a long way to go in this season. We’ll see how we respond.”

Heal Watch: At 3-3, the Raiders dropped in the latest poll to #6 in Class A South. The top 9 teams qualify for the playoffs

Up next: The Raiders travel to Leavitt on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. game, then meet Gray-NG (top ranked in Class B South at 6-0) at home on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. FA hosts Sacopee Valley (1-5) next Thursday, Jan. 12 at 6:30 p.m.