Falcons Win Battle of the Birds, Rally Back to Defeat Eagles 48-36

NEWPORT–It was not the start North Country coach Sarah Roy wanted when her team took to the hard wood on Friday evening to face the Mount Abraham Eagles.

The Falcons had a hard time finding the basket throughout the early stages of the first quarter, but as the game progressed the shots started to fall in for the girls in white, and in the end they would emerge victorious with a 48-36 win.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect from the girls tonight,” said Roy. “We’ve struggled keeping the intensity up at practice with the unplanned pause in our games. They came out focused and ready. We asked them to pick it up on defense even more in the second half, and they responded well. It was a good night for us. 6-3 at this point in the season is solid for my young team. We still have a lot of details to work on, but we are staying focused on the progress. I’m hoping our consistency will come with the experience we are gaining with every opportunity to play.”

As noted, the Falcons’ early shots just weren’t dropping in, but luckily for them, for the first four minutes, neither were the Eagles’ attempts.

Mt. Abe would break through first, as Abby Reen sank one from downtown midway through the quarter.

Laura Boner added to the total before Cora Nadeau got the Falcons on the board with a free throw.

The Eagles added four more points before Emma Fortin connected for the first North Country field goal.

Sabine Brueck then hit a three and suddenly the Falcons were right back in it.

Aaliyah Wilburn then fed Emma for her second bucket of the quarter, but Payton Vincent mad it a three-point game with a buzzer beating shot as time ran out.

Ahead 11-8 to start quarter number two, Eagles guard Lucy Parker added to the lead with a layup.

Nadeau answered with a three, but Madi Gile made a floater for the visitors.

Then the Falcons took off.

Libby Prue made a jumper, Brueck turned a steal into two points, Emma made a put-back, and after another three from Reen, Emma added another buzzer beater to push North Country out in front 19-18 at the break.

With temperatures dropping outside the Falcons heated up in the second half.

Brueck and Nadeau hit back-to-back threes to give the Falcons some breathing room to start the third.

Hope Dobler made a nice steal and fed Nadeau for a layup.

Maia Jensen broke up the run with a three, followed by a layup by Vincent.

Nadeau hit another bomb from downtown, but the Eagles put up another five points, including another three for Reen.

The Falcons would answer Reen’s three with three the old fashion way, as Josi Fortin got the hoop and the harm after converting a nice feed from Rileigh Fortin. Jensen and Rileigh traded free throws to close out the quarter, and with eight minutes to go it was 34-29 Falcons.

Another strong NCU run greeted the Eagles as play got underway in the final quarter.

Brueck had another steal that became a layup, Josi hit a long two, Nadeau went 2-2 from the charity stripe, then fed Emma for a layup and went back to the line and made two more.

Gile hit a three for Mt. Abe, Wilburn made a free throw followed by a layup from Jensen.

The final dagger would be Brueck’s second three of the game, which all but sealed the deal for the Falcons.

Cora Nadeau led the way for the Falcons, scoring a game-high 16 points.

Sabine Brueck added 13, and Emma Fortin was also in double digits with a season-best 10 points.

North Country will take their 6-3 record on the road this evening when they travel to take on Enosburg in a make-up game originally scheduled for last Tuesday.

Opening tip is slated for 7:00.