The Wiscasset Middle High School girls' basketball team broke into the win column Monday night with a 29-27 victory over Richmond. The Wolverines are now 1-7, and in 11th place in the Southern Maine Class D girls' basketball standings. They lost their first seven games of the season, but have shown steady improvement.

Jan. 2 against Old Orchard Beach, Wiscasset lost, 53-24, but impressed coach Dana Lawrence with its effort on defense. "This was our best defensive effort of the season. You can see our man-to-man is improving. The players are playing more aggressively. They also are doing a better job understanding close-outs and boxing out," Lawrence said.

Against Old Orchard Beach, the Seagulls had too much firepower and pressure defense bothered Wiscasset's ability to move the ball into the frontcourt.

Wiscasset was led in scoring by Michelle Fortin with nine points including two 3-pointers. Other Wolverine scorers were Trixie Loyola who scored four points. Hailey Bonong tallied three. Makynee Wright and Emalynn Terrence scored two each.

As for Fortin, Lawrence described her as a smart ballplayer. "She is smart and takes good shots. You can see she is a scorer. She squares to the basket, and is balanced. She rarely takes a bad shot," he said.

This is Lawrence's second tenure in Wiscasset. He coached the boys' basketball team from 2010 to 2017. In 2011, Wiscasset made the tournament and beat Boothbay twice that season. Wiscasset officials contacted him before the season about his availability to coach. After some consideration, he decided to meet with them.

"I attended a volleyball game and saw the atmosphere had changed for the better. That is one reason why I decided to coach. The second reason is Wiscasset gave me my first varsity coaching job," Lawrence said.

Wiscasset girls' next game is Friday, Jan. 9 in Buckfield. The Bucks (7-1) are in first place in the Class D South schoolgirls' standings.