Forest Hills girls basketball coach Bob Manix high-fives sophomore guard Grace Allen after the Tigers sank Greenville 35-25 in a Class D South quarterfinal Saturday morning at the Augusta Civic Center. Bill Stewart/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — The Forest Hills girls basketball team was in need of a spark.
Grace Allen was happy to help.
The sophomore forward scored six crucial points in a 12-0 run to open the second half, and Forest Hills shook off some early rust to sink Greenville 35-25 in a Class D South quarterfinal game Saturday morning at the Augusta Civic Center.
Allen finished with 11 points while Kylie Yu scoed a game-high 13. Allie Dunning added 10 for the Tigers and Peyton Chaisson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
“I just felt pretty hyped up,” Allen said. “When the first shot went in of the run, I was like, ‘yup, we got this.’ I knew we were going to have it.”
Added first-year Forest Hills coach Bob Manix: “Grace is definitely our spark plug. Once she gets on a roll, the whole team starts going.”
The Tigers (12-7) will play top-seeded Valley (14-1) in a regional semifinal at 11:30 a.m., Thursday. The Cavaliers buried No. 8 North Haven 52-32 in a quarterfinal game Saturday.
Lila Kronholm scored a team-high 10 points for the Lakers (4-13).
Greenville led 16-13 at halftime before the Tigers turned to a strong inside-out game that helped them rally back and put the game out of reach with its game-altering 12-0 run.
“We came out in the third fired up,” Manix said.
The Lakers pulled within seven at 25-18 at the end of third, but Yu opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to push the lead back into double digits.
“We were a little nervous coming in, but we started to play well,” she said.
Added Allen: “We started moving the ball a lot, and that helped. We all just pulled together.”
It was a rough start for the Lakers, who struggled on the offensive end for much of the first quarter.
The Tigers led 6-0 after Dunning sank a 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes left in the opening quarter.
Just when it seemed the Lakers would be shut out on the scoreboard in the first quarter. Haley Ferland hit a 3-pointer and Jaydyn Boone scored to make it a 6-5 game.
The Tigers extended their lead to 11-5 in the second , but then the Lakers closed the quarter on an 11-2 run to take a 16-13 into the break.
Lakely St. Jean sparked the run with a few inside baskets while Lexi Bjork drained a 3-pointer.
“We were a little nervous in the beginning but then we settled down,” said Manix, whose team departed Jackman at 5:30 a.m. to make the trip Augusta. “We felt like we have a point to prove, that Forest Hills girls basketball belongs here.”
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