AUGUSTA — For a young Mt. Abram girls basketball team making its first tournament appearance Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center, the experience was a little overwhelming.
“This is the first trip down here for these girls and we just kind of froze that first half,” Mt. Abram coach Doug Lisherness said.
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Down by 17 points at halftime, the No. 6 Roadrunners made a game of it in the third quarter against No. 3 Boothbay, but never got over the hump in losing 58-42.
Boothbay (13-6) advanced to play No. 7 Waynflete in the Western Maine Class C semifinals Thursday while Mt. Abram finished the season 10-9.
The Roadrunners played without center Annie Dexter, who missed the game for personal reasons, and it hurt against a Boothbay team that has good size. It also cut Mt. Abram’s already thin bench to one reliable reserve.
“The first half we fell apart,” Mt. Abram junior Tori Beane said. “We said we weren’t going to foul and that’s all we did.”
Mt. Abram junior Miranda Smith picked up her third foul with 1 minute, 41 seconds left in the first quarter, but was forced to return in the second quarter and lasted the rest of the game. The Seahawks took full advantage since foul trouble forced the Roadrunners out of an effective full-court press.
They outscored the Roadrunners 19-10 in the second quarter to take a 33-16 lead at the break. Sarah Caron scored 11 of her game-high 23 points in the period while senior guard Alexandra Andrews added seven.
“The third quarter and even in the fourth it was more like the ball we’ve been playing,” Lisherness said. “But we were down and out at that point. You’re not going to come back against a real good team like Boothbay.”
The Roadrunners did make a run, though, outscoring the Seahawks 13-3 over the second half of the third quarter. Beane (14 points) capped both ends of the run with 3-pointers as Mt. Abram cut the lead to 41-33. Things appeared even more promising for the Roadrunners when Boothbay center Meghan Smith fouled out late in the third period after drawing a foul and a technical for protesting it.
The Seahawks responded by going inside to 6-foot junior Alex Clarke for a layup and three-point play that pushed the lead to 52-34.
“When Meghan went out the other kids responded,” Boothbay coach Dan Wolotsky said. “We said coming out of the huddle let’s get it down low to our strength.”
Smith finished with 14 points and five rebounds for the Seahawks while 5-foot sophomore Abbie McLellan gave them valuable minutes off the bench.
“She was fierce defensively,” Wolotsky said. “When they were coming back and Beane started making shots, we put little Abbie on her and she took care of her.”
Mikayla Luce scored 11 points for Mt. Abram, which will graduate just one player.
“We will be back,” Beane said. “And it’s going to be different next time, hopefully.”
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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