NORTH SUTTON – It took only one quarter for the Kearsarge girls’ basketball team to convince everyone in the gym that the game would belong to them. Just eight minutes in and the Cougars were already doubling their opponent in scoring, and that held true to the end.
By the final buzzer, Kearsarge had finished off a convincing 52-21 win over Mascoma (0-2), giving the Cougars their second win of the season after beating Raymond in similar fashion on Friday.
Kearsarge (2-0) has outscored its first two opponents, 117-48, and doesn’t plan on slowing down. Coach Keith Roberts said his team will need to be consistent with such a winning attitude when they host Campbell on Friday, a team that reached the Division III quarterfinals last season while the Cougars were knocked off in the first round.
“We’ve got to be ready to play against that better competition,” Roberts said. “We’re not going to change the way we play. We have to be up in people’s faces, cause turnovers and get into the transition game. That’s when we’re at our best. When we have to slow it down, we’re going to struggle a little bit.”
So the Cougars didn’t slow down at all. They led the Royals, 25-8, at halftime and allowed just three points in the second quarter. Kearsarge extended its lead in the third quarter, outscoring Mascoma, 12-0. The fourth quarter saw more action from both sides with Kearsarge hitting two 3-pointers and the Royals getting one of their own while scoring 13 points. It was the only quarter where either team scored from beyond the arc.
Freshman guard Madisyn Brayshaw has made her presence known in Division III after scoring 13 points against Raymond and then leading the team with 11 points Monday night.
The Cougars are heavy with juniors and seniors and welcome a contributing freshman like Brayshaw.
“It’s awesome,” said senior forward Devi Kraushaar, who finished with six points after leading the team with 20 against Raymond. “I couldn’t ask anything else from a younger player to step up and take the floor the way she does.”
The team’s two sophomores, Megan Roy and Emilie Webster, also combined for eight points. In all, 10 players up and down the roster pitched in scoring for Kearsarge. Senior Courtney Lauster was the team’s second-highest scorer with seven points.
“You can’t ask (the seniors) to be better teammates than what they’ve been doing with that younger group,” Roberts said. “You’ve got the older kids playing with the younger kids, and sometimes that’s hard. But this group has really come together and molded as a group early, which is really nice to see.”
The team’s youngest player would agree. Brayshaw said she feels comfortable, even “relaxed,” playing with these girls.
“It’s like we’re becoming a family,” Brayshaw said. “We’re really getting along, really enjoying each other’s company in school, on the court, in practice.”
Monday’s game titled early and was rather lopsided before the end of the first half. Kraushaar said those games can still be valuable.
“In games like this, we just want to learn what can we do under pressure, what can we do when we know there is a team we need to beat in order to be seen as a threat from other teams,” she said. “ Basically, we just like to stay under control and show them everything that we have.”
This early in the season, each game will reveal something new as teams try to build their identity. For Roberts, his squad is already meeting his expectations, but he’s careful to predict how far they can go from this point.
“It’s early,” he said. “Let’s see what happens. Come talk to me after Christmas.”
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3339, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)