AUGUSTA – Sammy Calder wasn’t ready for his season to end.

With his Monmouth boys basketball team holding a 30-29 lead over rival Winthrop entering the fourth quarter of a Class C South quarterfinal on Monday night, Calder stepped his game up to ensure he and his teammates would get stick around in the tournament.

Calder scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the final period to give the Mustangs a 51-39 win at the Augusta Civic Center.

“I was just trying to get every offensive rebound, every put-back (in the fourth),” said Calder, a senior forward. “Especially within the last few minutes, I wanted the ball in my hands so I could shoot the (game-sealing) free throws.”

Monmouth Academy (16-3), the No. 3 seed, advanced to the semifinals, which will be played Thursday. Levi Laverdiere scored seven points for the Mustangs, while Lucas Harmon added six points and 13 rebounds.

Carter Rivers led No 6 Winthrop with 14 points while Braden Brannagan added 10. The Ramblers finished 11-8.

Monmouth jumped out to a strong start, entering halftime with a 24-12 halftime lead. Calder scored 12 points in the first half, including nine in the second quarter alone.

But Winthrop was far from done. The Ramblers found a hot streak, outscoring the Mustangs by a 17-6 margin in the third quarter. Rivers scored seven points in the quarter to pull Winthrop within 30-29 entering the fourth quarter.

“Coach (Todd) MacArthur is one of the best coaches in our league, one of the best in the state,” Monmouth Academy head coach Wade Morrill said. “He always has his guys ready. And you know when you’re playing them that you’re not going to catch them sleeping on any of your stuff.”

“We knew it was mostly our mistakes that helped (Winthrop) come back into the game,” Calder added. “We knew we needed to just calm down, and we knew they were trying to speed us up with quick shots. We just talked (between quarters) about how we needed to settle down, run our offense, run set plays and just settle in.”

But the fourth was all about Calder, scoring 15 of his team’s 21 points in the quarter.

“Sam’s no stranger to big moments in big games,” Morrill said. “There’s a reason why he’s accomplished what he has in his high school career. He’s an incredibly quiet, humble young guy… We’re fortunate to have Sam with us, as we are our entire group of boys this year.”

Calder was 7 of 9 at the foul line in the fourth. The final 11 points for Monmouth Academy came off of free throws to help seal the victory.

“We’ve had a couple close games where free throws kind of determined it, and we didn’t make them when we were in that situation,” Calder said. “Since then, we’ve been focusing on free throws and closing out big games.”

MacArthur said he was proud of how his team competed Monday. The Ramblers return their entire lineup next season.

“We lost a little bit of the culture pieces (in the program) the last few years, and I asked them to get back some of the pieces that were important to us,” MacArthur said. “I’m incredibly proud of them for getting our culture back in the right direction.”

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