AUGUSTA — When recounting what Evans Sterling did Saturday night, it might be easier to just select “all of the above.”

Because the 6-foot-3 senior point guard did everything and then some as second-seeded Mt. Blue took care of No. 7 Lawrence 70-30 in a Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Cougars (14-5) next face No. 3 Messalonskee in the semifinals at 7 p.m. on Wednesday back at the Civic Center. The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference rivals split the season series, 1-1.

Sterling finished with 25 points, four steals, six rebounds and a second-quarter dunk — part of the first of two 12-0 runs — that elicited a big reaction from the crowd. His pinpoint passing helped teammates such as Charles Stevens (10 points) and Tyler Abell (nine) dent the scoresheet.

“Evans showed tonight he’s one of the best players in the state,” Mt. Blue coach Troy Norton said. “I know a lot of people don’t see him play, from southern Maine, but he can just do it all. He’s been phenomenal all season long.

“I’m just ecstatic that he was able to show what he can do tonight in front of that big crowd.”

A sampling of Sterling’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 1:

• A scoop of a loose ball and a coast-to-coast layup in the second quarter;
• A nifty finger roll later in the period;
• A third-quarter kickout pass to a wide-open Abell, who converted one of his three 3-pointers;
• A layup off his own steal later in the third;
• A series of dribbles that made the Lawrence defense stand still as he drove up the lane for an easy jumper;
• And finally, a stop-and-pop buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to cap his scoring before he took a well-deserved rest for the remainder of the game.

“They were having a double-team at halfcourt, so I was still seeing the ball, getting my teammates open and they were just knocking everything down,” Sterling said. 

Lawrence coach Jason Pellerin couldn’t do much more other than shake his head.

Mt. Blue’s Evans Sterling had 25 points in a win over Lawrence during a Class A North boys basketball quarterfinal game Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

“Evans is a great player and they feed off him,” Pellerin said. “We were struggling to get off shots against them. They have a lot of length. … Their length on the perimeter really bothered our shooters.”

Gavin Lunt led Lawrence (7-12) with 10 points as the Cougar defense held Bulldogs ace Dane Zawistowski to two fourth-quarter points.

“He was our focus; we didn’t want him to get going,” Sterling said.

The teams traded the lead back-and-forth in the first quarter before Mt. Blue took the lead for good on Nolan Leso’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer that began the first two 12-0 runs. Sterling scored the 10 next points, capped with a rather normal — by his standards — jumper with 2:24 left in the half.

Mt. Blue outscored Lawrence 31-5 in the third, and that was that. But Pellerin was proud of his team’s effort throughout the season.

“We fought hard all year,” Pellerin said. “I’m really proud of the fact that we never had any games were there was any give-up. A very resilient group, I was always proud of their effort.” 

Norton said his team would “enjoy this win for about five minutes” before preparing for Messalonskee, which dealt the Cougars a 65-47 loss, their first after a 12-0 start, on Jan. 23. Is revenge on their minds?

 “Yeah, we’ll be ready for that,” Sterling said with a smile.

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