There’s no quit in Wiscasset Middle High School’s girls basketball team. The Wolverines lost 78-17 to visiting Spruce Mountain High School Friday night in Stover Auditorium but they continued hustling and scrambling for the basketball right up to the final buzzer.

Coach Tom Philbrick encourages his team's members to ignore the score and just keep playing hard. They did.

The Wolverines are still looking for their first Mountain Valley Conference win having lost their first six games. Spruce Mountain’s win improved its record to 5-1.

Senior Haley Turcotte had the hot hand for the Phoenix. She lit up the scoreboard with 42 points, including 12 three-point baskets.

Turcotte netted 21 points in the first period of play when the Phoenix ran up a 35-3 lead.

Kateleen Trask tossed in a three for the Wolverines in the second period. She finished the game with nine points and six rebounds. Wiscasset’s other points were divided among Sydnie Thayer, Alice Yokabaskas, Jade Rego and Madison Carrier at two each.

Rego had a team-leading four rebounds.

Yokabaskas who aspires to be among the MVC’s leaders in shot blocking, blocked Spruce Valley’s first shot of the game. She finished with two, collected four rebounds and had a pair of steals. Wiscasset was two for five from the foul line.

At the start of the third period, Rego rebounded a missed shot under the basket, leaped and banked the ball off the glass for a score.

With 5:51 left in the game, Trask hit a nice jump shot from just inside the three-point line. In the final minute, she took the ball the length of the court and scored drawing a foul on the basket. She swished in the free throw picking up three points for her team the old fashioned way.

They were the last points for the Wolverines for 2018. The team doesn’t play again until Jan. 2 when it hosts Boothbay Region High School.

Point guards Callie Baker and Jaycee Cole combined for 28 points for the Phoenix – 18 for Baker and 10 for Cole. Spruce Mountain was six for nine on the foul line.

At the start of the game, WMHS was one of five MVC teams still looking for their first wins. Richmond and Telstar were at 0-5 and Dirigo 0-4.