March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

George Stevens speeds to victory

BLUE HILL – It was like playing an old 78 record on 45 speed, but it was beautiful music to the George Stevens Academy Eagles.

GSA used a half-court press and relentless man-to-man defense to force 18 Ellsworth turnovers and take the visiting Eagles out of their deliberate half-court game en route to a 49-28 victory before a big Monday night crowd at GSA’s gym.

“The book on them is they want to go inside and play patient, and probably the book on us is we want to press and play up-tempo. It very much was contrasting styles,” said GSA coach Larry Gray, whose team is now 5-2 in its first season in Class B.

Ellsworth dropped to 2-5.

Gray’s Eagles helped force 10 Ellsworth turnovers in the first half, but Ellsworth was still able to stay close throughout, thanks to the play of 6-foot-1 center Erica Page. Page scored all six of Ellsworth’s points in the first quarter, but was held to only two points the rest of the game and still finished as the team’s top scorer.

“We had a real advantage, I thought, inside with Page, but we didn’t do a good job of getting her the ball,” said Ellsworth coach Matt Clark.

Clark blamed lack of fundamental execution – boxing out, passing, and shooting – for his team’s second-half collapse.

GSA went to the locker room with a 24-20 halftime lead. Although George Stevens expanded its lead a bit in the third quarter, neither team could get much going offensively – each could manage only one basket.

In the fourth, GSA’s pressure began to wear down Ellsworth and the host Eagles began to pull away, scoring the first eight points of the quarter and never looking back.

“I think our defense made their ballhandlers struggle,” GSA guard Nikki Allen said. “I think getting up on their ballhandlers and not letting them get the ball in to Erica Page really helped us.”

GSA’s defense appeared to wear down and bother Ellsworth, as the Eagles clearly looked uncomfortable trying to defeat the pressure with upcourt passing rather than ballhandling.

Conversely, GSA’s backcourt duo of sisters Nikki and Mandy Allen appeared to have little trouble negotiating through the bigger Ellsworth squad’s 2-3 zone defense. Nikki Allen led her team with 14 points.

“Those two they have are two of the better guards in our conference. They work well in tandem, and they’re athletic,” Clark said.

“Our defense triggers our offense. If we’re not doing it on defense, we’re not doing it on offense,” Nikki Allen explained.

It was also the play of junior center Gretchen Pemberton who helped hold Page in check. Pemberton gave Page all she could handle inside, drawing fouls and shooting 8-for-10 from the line.

“She’s making huge improvement from a year ago. She’s had a double-double the last three games,” Gray said. “I don’t always put Gretchen on their best big kid because of fouls. I kind of hide her. But tonight, we didn’t really have much choice.”

Not that he could have anyway. With 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, there was no way to hide her Monday night.

GSA 49, Ellsworth 28

Ellsworth (2-5) 28 George Stevens (4-2) 49

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Dill 0 1 0 0 0 Jackson 1 1 0 0 3

Lemar 0 2 0 0 0 N. Allen 4 8 5 6 14

Smallidge 3 8 0 0 6 M. Allen 2 7 1 2 5

MacDonald 1 5 3 5 5 Wood 0 1 0 0 0

Saunders 1 6 3 6 5 Hewitt 0 1 0 0 0

Beekman 1 2 0 1 2 Trenkle 3 10 2 2 9

Johnston 0 0 0 0 0 Haney 1 1 0 0 2

Merchant 0 1 0 0 0 Ashe 0 4 2 2 2

Smith 1 4 0 0 2 Erland 1 1 0 0 2

Page 4 9 0 0 8 Bishop 1 3 0 0 2

Pemberton 1 8 8 10 10

Totals 11 38 6 12 28 Totals 14 45 18 22 49

Ellsworth 6 20 23 28

George Stevens Academy 8 24 31 49

3-pt. goals: Ellsworth (0-3): Lemar 0-1, Saunders 0-2; George Stevens (3-5): Jackson 1-1, Trenkle 1-1, N. Allen 1-3

Attendance: 450 (est.)

Preliminary: George Stevens JVs 49, Ellsworth 45


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