The Ashland High School girls basketball put on an impressive defensive clinic on Tuesday night, stifling Deer Isle-Stonington with its trapping full-court pressure.
Ashland forced 26 turnovers and limited the Mariners to one basket over the final three quarters en route to a 27-16 victory in their Class S quarterfinal at the Cross Insurance Center on Tuesday night.
The fifth-seeded Hornets are now 11-8 and will face the winner of Thursday’s 3 p.m. quarterfinal between top seed Wisdom of St. Agatha and No. 8 seed Easton in next Tuesday’s semifinals.
No. 4 Deer Isle-Stonington wound up 10-9.
“The press works well for us because we’re quick on our feet,” said Ashland senior guard Layla Burby. “We have great hustle and it causes a lot of turnovers, which lead to quick points.”
Ashland coach Diana Trams said her team is “super quick” and tries to use that to its advantage.
“Defense is what we’ve focused on all year,” said Ashland coach Diana Trams. “It helps keep us in games when we’re struggling offensively.
Sophomore guard Addison Labelle, who entered the game averaging seven steals per game, had nine of the Hornets’ 17 steals in the contest on Tuesday night.
“We like to keep up the hustle, move our feet, get back and play as hard as we can.” Labelle said.
Freshman Sadie Trams, Diana’s daughter, scored a game-high 10 points despite seeing limited playing time due to foul trouble. LaBelle had six points and four rebounds to go with her nine steals. Junior center Angel Hafford had five points and four rebounds and freshman Arihanna Good had four points and five rebounds. Burby had three rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.
Freshman guard Marley Jones paced the Mariners with five points, four rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot. Freshman guard Bella Jones had four points, two steals and a blocked shot and another freshman guard, Mallory Heanssler, had four points and two rebounds.
Senior forward Megan Wendell had a game-high eight rebounds for Deer Isle-Stonington, which shot 4-for-39 from the floor.