Wiscasset Middle survived a third quarter surge by the visiting Bristol Devils for a 62-40 Busline League basketball win Wednesday evening, Jan. 8.

Balance scoring tipped the scales in Wiscasset’s favor, the Wolves having three players in double scoring figures. Javar Garricks set the pace netting a game high 17 points, six in the final eight minutes. Austin Trask finished with 15 points and Braden Laliberte had 11. The trio also lead their team in rebounding and Garricks had six assists.

Wiscasset led the game from the opening tap but for a while it was close. Mason Clark’s three-point basket capped an early 8-0 run for the Wolves. With two minutes left in the opening quarter, Ethan Demmons drove the length of the court and banked a basket in off the glass. That put Wiscasset on top 13-8 which is where the scored stood at the end of the first period.

Wiscasset was up 28-17 at the half netting nine unanswered points in the second quarter. At 4:40, Laliberte scored off the pick and roll putting the hosts up 20-8. Tucker Geyer’s three field goals in the first half kept Bristol in the game. The Devils rallied back in the third period with a pair of trifectas tossed in by Braxton Crockett. His three-pointer at the four-minute mark made it 37-30 and caused some unease among the Wiscasset fans. Crockett finished the game with 15 points and about a dozen rebounds.

The Wolves quickly regrouped. They scored 11 unanswered points. Laliberte started the run with a rebound and basket. Trask followed with three baskets in a row, two off steals, the other on a Bristol turnover following a Wiscasset defensive press. Headed into the final period, Wiscasset was once again comfortably ahead, 52-33. Clark’s basket with 4:45 left in the game put the Wolves up 56-39. Garricks added a pair of field goals down the stretch.

Bristol girls win

The Wiscasset Middle girls rallied late outscoring Bristol 14-8 in the final period but the visitors hung on for the win, 45-37. Belle Orr and Quina Hyman both finished with 15 points for the Wolves. Taylin Lowe scored in every period for the Devils and finished with a game high 17. Serena Foster had 10. The game was a wild one from the opening tap, with the lead changing six times in the first half.

Foster’s three pointer briefly put Bristol in the lead but a three by Laila Dicus helped give Wiscasset a 12-9 lead at the end of the first period. The Devils outscored Wiscasset 19-10 in the second quarter to lead 27-18 at halftime. Bristol was up 37-23 headed into the final quarter and it looked like the game was over. But Dicus’s basket with 5:60 left kicked off an 8-0 Wiscasset run as Hyman followed with a pair of baskets and Orr banked in a layup. Suddenly, Bristol’s lead was down to four, 37-33.

With the clock winding down to 2:39, Hyman drove inside and scored again, making it a 39-37 ballgame. But that was as close as the Wolves would come. In the closing minute, Lowe grabbed a rebound at the Wiscasset end, dribbled the length of the court, scored and then added another basket in the waning seconds. Orr netted six of seven free throws and had a three-pointer in the first period. Gabby Smith played a good floor game for the Wolves, who have shown a lot of improvement.