Hope Bouchard and the Lawrence senior class have been playing together since the second grade, working toward holding up a gold ball together for the Bulldogs.
On Friday night at the Augusta Civic Center, Bouchard had the performance she’d dreamed of, scoring 25 points and grabbing nine rebounds to lead Lawrence to a 58-43 victory over south champions Brunswick in the Class A girls basketball title game.
“This has been something we’ve been working toward since we have been playing,” Bouchard said after the game with one of the game’s nets draped around her neck. “This senior group has played since the second grade so we’ve worked for this every day. … It feels amazing.”
Maddy Werner led No. 1 Brunswick (19-3) with 16 points.
Brunswick took a 5-0 lead at the start of the game before Lawrence went on a 12-0 run. During the run, Bouchard scored five points and the Bulldogs hit three 3-pointers.
Lawrence’s goal on Friday night was to push the pace.
“We wanted to push the ball because we’ve been really good pushing the ball and it’s been important for us,” Bouchard said.
“We said it all along that we need to play our game and get up and down the court,” Lawrence coach Greg Chesley said. “They slowed us at times but for the most part we got up and down. We wanted to get 60 and we got 58 so it worked.”
Bouchard ended the first quarter with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal as the Bulldogs led the Dragons 15-8.
Brunswick’s Werner scored off an offensive rebound to begin the second quarter, followed by another basket by Wagner making it 15-12 just 75 seconds into the period. Werner finished the first half with eight points.
Madalyn Provost, a freshman for Lawrence, had herself a huge second quarter, scoring seven points. Provost started her scoring in the second with a fadeaway pull-up jumper from the baseline that gave the Bulldogs a 19-12 lead midway through the second.
At the end of the quarter, Provost was fouled on a 3-point attempt from the corner. The freshman sank one free throw but missed the first and the last before Brianna Poulin grabbed the offensive rebound. Poulin found Provost, who was then fouled again on a layup. Provost made both of the ensuing free throws and Lawrence entered halftime with a 29-16 lead.
Provost was huge for the Bulldogs in her first state championship game.
“I don’t even know how you describe what it is about her,” Chesley said of Provost. “She sees the floor differently than any other freshman sees it, she doesn’t shy away from the moment and she was big for us.”
After just one made field goal in the first half, Brunswick’s Alexis Morin got it going in the third.
With 1:45 left, Morin swished a 3-pointer to cut the Dragons’ deficit to 35-28. On the next possession, Dakota Shipley blocked a Poulin 3-point attempt and found Kelsie Carlton running up the court. Carlton quickly found Morin under the hoop who scored and was fouled, completing the old-fashioned three-point play and making it a four-point game.
With 5.5 seconds left in the third, Lawrence passed the ball in bounds to Provost who passed to Elizabeth Crommett at the top of the key. Crommett sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave Lawrence a 41-33 lead with eight minutes left in the title game.
Bouchard, who was held to just two points in the third, started the fourth quarter off with a smooth mid-range jumper that answered an early Brunswick basket.
The senior guard had a green light all game.
“I think I just wanted to win so bad that I was going to take my shot if it was there,” Bouchard said. “I was going to pass if it was there, just do whatever it took.”
After Werner scored at the rim, Bouchard answered with a triple from the right wing and gave the Bulldogs another double-digit lead with 4:34 left.
In the end, Lawrence was too much. Bouchard scored five free throws in the final two minutes to hold off the Dragons and earn the victory.