AUGUSTA — The Monmouth girls got off the floor and back in the game once. They just couldn’t do it twice.

The young Mustangs — three freshmen play key roles — fell behind by 14 points in the first half of Tuesday afternoon’s Western C girls basketball quarterfinal against third-ranked Dirigo. No. 6 Monmouth battled back to tie the game in the third quarter, but Dirigo had too much size inside and pounded away for a 48-33 victory at the Augusta Civic Center.

“We played pretty solid basketball,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “They’re just so much bigger and physical than us. They killed us on offensive rebounds. That’s how they scored a big chunk of their points.”

Dirigo had a 36-18 rebounding advantage, and used that to grab control in the first half. After the Cougars scuffled early and Monmouth led 4-0, Dirigo responded with a 21-3 run, and led 21-7 with about five minutes left in the half.

“The one thing we knew they would do — they’re going to look for their shots,” Dirigo coach Karen Magnusson said. “I thought we did a good job defending the threes. We were doing a great job of challenging those.”

Monmouth had two 3-pointers in the game, and both were in those next five minutes before halftime. Sidney Wilson (team-high 15 points) made one with 1:46 left to go in the half, pulling the Mustangs within 22-14. With about 55 seconds to play, Dirigo tried to hold for one shot, but threw the ball away with 4.9 seconds left. Wilson dribbled upcourt, then threw in a one-handed 30-footer at the buzzer, getting Monmouth within 22-17 at the break.

“That’s what I told the girls: You’re never out of a game, especially down here,” Wing said. “You get a couple shots, and get a little momentum going, and you can get back into it. We did make a little run, and they got energized by it.”

The Mustangs continued to creep their way back in the third quarter. Maddie Amero crashed the boards for a three-point play, and Dirigo’s lead was 27-25. When Tia Day drove for a basket, the game was tied at 27 with 2:53 to go in the quarter.

But after that, it was all Dirigo. The Cougars used a 13-0 run over the third and fourth quarters to build a 44-29 lead. One of the biggest plays was with Dirigo ahead 35-29, as Lauren Henderson opened the final quarter with a three from the left corner for a nine-point advantage.

“We said, ‘Good teams are going to make good runs — that’s why all these teams are in the tournament,'” Magnusson said. “I said, ‘Great teams are the ones that are tougher mentally, that respond back to it.’ And that’s exactly what we did.”

Dirigo shot just 7 for 21 from the foul line, and it was especially maddening for the Mustangs that the Cougars somehow turned this to their advantage. Three different times, Dirigo got the offensive rebound off a missed free throw, and put in a quick basket. Jessica Conant (16 points, six rebounds) and Kelsey Hutchins (11 points, 10 rebounds) did the most damage for the Cougars.

“That just comes down to a physical strength thing,” Wing said. “A few of them might have been technique, but most of them, we’re getting physically moved.”

Monmouth finishes at 14-6, and graduates only two seniors — Jenna Davies and Caroline Bonenfant.

“Our two seniors were excellent leaders throughout the year,” Wing said. “When you have six freshmen coming in, seniors can either take that or leave it. They took those freshmen in, and they accepted them for what they were, and figured out that they were going to help them a lot.

“It was probably the most cohesive team I’ve ever coached, so that’s a testament to how we play. The future looks bright for us. I wish we had a 6-foot-2 girl moving to town, but I’m pretty excited about the future.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo

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