LAKEVILLE — The Apponequet Regional High School girls basketball team clinched at least a share of the South Coast Conference championship with a 65-39 victory over Old Rochester Regional High School on Wednesday, Feb. 14, their eighth consecutive win.

Two days later, the Lakers took down Bourne 62-55 to claim the outright conference championship. 

Since starting the season off with two wins and two losses, the Lakers have won 16 of their last 17 games.

The win avenged a 44-40 loss Apponequet suffered at the hands of Old Rochester on Jan. 17.

Junior Addison Taylor wasted no time getting involved early, scoring 12 of the Lakers’ 19 first- quarter points as Apponequet jumped out to a 19-8 lead.

Apponequet Head Coach Trevor Gagnier ran a full court press defense, making it difficult for the Bulldogs to get comfortable with possession of the ball. Sophomore Cecelia Levrault was a thorn in Old Rochester’s side all night, applying pressure and consistently stealing the ball away from the Bulldogs.

Offensively, the Lakers swung the ball around the perimeter, working through the talented backcourt trio of Taylor, Levrault, and Sophomore Hannah Kuriscak.

“We lean on those three players a lot and they brought it tonight,” said Gagnier. “They kind of took their turns making some plays. I’m real proud of the kids.”

Kuriscak took over the game in the second half, making five 3-pointers and putting the Apponequet crowd on their feet. The sophomore finished with a game high 22 points and seven 3-pointers.

With the Lakers up by 19 points early in the fourth quarter, Kuriscak made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to effectively put the game out of reach.

“She’s always been a confident player,” said Gagnier. “She is a player that makes our team very difficult to defend.”

Kuriscak has led the Lakers in 3-pointers in both her freshman and sophomore seasons. She made a career high nine 3-pointers against Middleboro High School on Dec. 13.

“We knew we had to win this game to have an opportunity to win the league,” said Gagnier. “This is a great accomplishment for the girls — they worked hard and they were prepared.”

Gagnier said that it has been a goal of the team all season to be able to play their first MIAA tournament game at home. After winning eight straight games, he believes that the Lakers will get that opportunity.

Hopefully we can get into the round of 16 and see where we can go,” said Gagnier. “It's a talented group, it's a confident group, and we are looking forward to it.”

“They were just much better than us,” said Old Rochester Head Coach Rick Regan. “They outworked us tonight and that is why they won pretty comfortably.”

The win improved Apponequet’s record to 17-3. Old Rochester dropped to 14-4 with the loss.