Merys Carty

By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — For a split second, Coach Coreen Eccleston thought Friday might be the night her young Raiders put it all together.

Senior Kalie Eastman made an aggressive move in the lane to slash past two Leavitt defenders for a layup.

The next time down the floor sophomore guard Merys Carty confidently pulled the trigger on a corner jumper and saw the ball touch nothing but net.

Home: 4, Guest 0.

Confidence, however, can be a fleeting thing. FA went 0-for-6 the rest of the quarter, and Leavitt’s senior forward Sophia Gilbert torched the Raider defense for eight points as the Hornets scored 13 unanswered points en route to a 31-16 victory at Wadsworth Arena.

Kalie Eastman

Gilbert nearly out scored Fryeburg, netting a game-high 19 points as the Hornets (6-5) handed the Raiders their 11th straight loss.

“I really thought that us making a couple of shots right off would give us some confidence. But then, the next few times down the floor, we threw the ball away trying to do too much offensively, not staying composed, making the easy pass,” FA Coach Eccleston said. “They started to double down on the high post, and we struggled passing out of there. Bad pass after bad pass left us a little down.”

After a relatively clean first period, which the Raiders committed just three turnovers, FA unraveled to the tune of 11 miscues while shooting just 1-of-6 from the field and 2-of-4 from the foul line. Carty recorded the only field goal, swiping an offensive rebound and scoring the putback.

Sierra Lyman

The Hornets, however, weren’t much better. Gilbert scored her club’s 4 points as the Hornets turned the ball over eight times in the frame and were just 2-of-7 from the field, leading at the break 17-8.

After a 1-point third quarter (Carty going 1-of-2 from the foul line at the 6:11 mark), Fryeburg finally found a spark. Sophomore forward Sierra Lyman came off the bench to score all of her team-high 7 points in the final period. She showed a quick burst off the dribble, and went 3-of-4 from the foul line.

Leavitt spent most of the fourth at the charity stripe, taking 15 shots while sinking just five.

“Defensively, we switched it up to a zone and did well, holding them to less than 10 points over the final three quarters. While keeping them to just 31 points is good, we need to make something happen at the offensive end,” Coach Eccleston said. “We got a little timid. This game was there for the taking.”

Coach Eccleston liked what she saw in Lyman’s play in the fourth, but knows that if the Raiders are to notch a few wins this season, that kind of effort and fearless play on the offensive end must come from all five players on the floor.

Zoe Bodwell

“It seems we have someone step up each game, but this year, we need for more than just one player to do that. They have to want to score. I tell them they all can score, but they all need to be aggressive and look to score,” she said. “They got too many second chances, including after foul shots. We need to be better and not allow teams to push us around. We need to want the ball more and go get it.”

For the Raiders, Carty finished with 5 points, while Eastman and Tina LeBlanc each had 2 points.

Stat Sheet

Turnovers: FA 29, LVT 24

Field Goals: FA 5-26 (19%), LVT 11-37 (30%)

Free Throws: FA 6-10, LVT 7-19

Rebounds: FA 21, LVT 23

Kaylee Emery

Top rebounders: FA LeBlanc 5, Eastman 5, Carty 4, Kaylee Emery 4; LVT Zoe Nadeau 8, Gilbert 6, Rebecca Fogg 5

Tuesday score: FA lost to Wells 61-33.

Up next: In a change in schedule, the Raider girls will host Greely this Friday, Jan. 19 at 6:30 p.m. The Raiders then host Poland on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. and then travel next Thursday to Freeport to meet the Falcons at 6:30 p.m.