AUGUSTA — Carylanne Wolfington got hot at the right time, draining one 3-pointer after another at a critical moment in the Western C girls title game Saturday night against upset-minded Waynflete.

Allison Crockett did her job on the boards and Kristina Buck provided a nice lift offensively.

Throw in another strong game defensively, and the Hall-Dale girls basketball team is heading to the Class C state title game.

Again.

Wolfington scored a team-high 16 points while Crockett finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds to help Hall-Dale beat Waynflete 43-36.

“Back-to-back Western Maines is a pretty incredible accomplishment,” Hall-Dale coach Brandon Terrill said. “Every year is different. To feel the electricity in the building again, that never gets old.”

Advertisement

The top-seeded and defending Class C state champ Hall-Dale (18-3) will play Central on Saturday.

No. 7 Waynflete, which previously knocked out the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, had its Cinderella run come to an end, but not without a fight. Martha Veroneau led the Flyers (13-8) with 16 points, including two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

However, she was held mostly in check after scoring a single-game Western C tournament record 47 points in a semifinal victory over Boothbay.

Wolfington, who struggled early to find her shot, guarded Veroneau for much of the game.

“Wolfington’s a great player (and) Martha’s a great player,” Waynflete coach Brandon Salway said. “They did a good job on each other.”

Added Terrill: “They are two of the best female athletes, certainly in Class C, if not in the state of Maine.”

Advertisement

Helen Gray-Bauer and Leigh Fernandez each added nine. Buck scored eight points for Hall-Dale.

“It was exciting and terrifying,” Crockett said.

Hall-Dale led just 19-18 at the half but opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run to surge ahead 30-18.

The Flyers responded and pulled within 32-27 at the end of three quarters.

“I like our chances having the lead heading into an eight-minute game in the fourth quarter,” Terrill said. “But low and behold, they made that run at us and we held them off.”

Hall-Dale did, but it wasn’t easy.

Advertisement

Veroneau found her outside shooting touch, sinking a pair of deep 3-pointers of the fourth quarter to help the Flyers get within 37-36 in the final minutes.

“It was extremely nervous,” Wolfington said. “But Coach talked about how we have to stay calm throughout the game. We’ve been in these situations before.”

The Bulldogs didn’t wilt.

Wolfington grabbed a key offensive rebound off a Buck missed free throw and converted the putback with 45 seconds left to put Hall-Dale ahead 39-36. Gray-Bauer then missed a 3-pointer on the wing, and Wolfington was fouled after grabbing the rebound. She made both free throws with 18.4 seconds left to seal the victory.

“The way we persevered and hung tough and executed in the clutch, I’m really proud of that,” Terrill said.

Added Salway, whose team lost its third regional final in the last five years: “They made the plays when it mattered. Obviously, Wolfington’s rebound was huge. We had talked about that.”

Advertisement

Fernandez got the Flyers off and running with three 3-pointers in the first quarter to account for all nine of her points.

Waynflete raced out to an early 15-6 lead before Hall-Dale answered with a 9-0 run to pull even just 40 seconds into the second quarter.

Buck scored six points in the run, including a 3-pointer at the top of the key early in the second quarter.

The teams stayed close to each other the rest of the half.

“We had to execute and we did,” Terrill said.

Bill Stewart — 621-5640

bstewart@centralmaine.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.