Forest Hills girls basketball coach Alexandra Lessard directs her team during a Class D South quarterfinal game against Pine Tree Academy on Monday in Augusta. Bill Stewart/Kennebec Journal
AUGUSTA — Perhaps it was the pre-dawn bus trip just to get to the venue. Or perhaps it was its opponent, Pine Tree Academy, was playing some good, tough defense.
Whatever the reason, the Forest Hills girls basketball team struggled with its shooting for much of the first half of a D South quarterfinal game Monday morning at the Augusta Civic Center.
“We aren’t really a first-half team,” said Forest Hills junior guard Allie Dunning. “But we knew the shots would fall. We just had to keep shooting. They’d fall eventually.’
They sure did.
Dunning scored a game-high 15 points, including 10 in a decisive third quarter, as the No. 3 Tigers shook off a sluggish start and pulled away from the sixth-seeded Breakers 50-28 in a regional quarterfinal game.
Sophomore Janessa Moffit scored 12 points and Aurelie Poulin added eight for the Tigers (14-5), who will play No. 2 Waynflete (14-5) in a semifinal game Thursday at 10 a.m. in Augusta.
Freshman Chantal Mbonimpa scored 14 points to lead the Breakers (8-10), who trailed just 20-16 at the half.
The Tigers threatened to put this one away early, but shooting woes kept the game tight.
The game turned early in the third quarter when Dunning and Forest Hills went on a 12-4 run to extend its lead to 36-24.
Dunning hit a pair of 3-pointers in the run.
“Our motto is, the second half is when we explode,” said Forest Hills coach Alexandra Lessard. “I knew we had the capacity to keep scoring points. We have a lot of legs, a deep bench, so we decided to press the ball a bit more in the second half. Pressing can lead to turnovers, and turnovers can lead to good shots.”
Lessard has been coaching the Tigers down the stretch as Bob Manix is no longer with the program.
Forest Hills led 20-16 entering the third before Dunning buried a 3-pointer. Poulin then scored off an offensive rebound before the Tigers’ press resulted in a few more easy baskets to make it a 29-20 game.
Dunning then promptly went for seven unanswered points, including another from behind the arc, and Forest Hills was in business up 36-24.
“Once we got out of our own heads we were fine,” Dunning said. “The tournament can be a little nerve-racking, so it felt good to settle down. We knew we’d get our rhythm.”
Added Poulin: “We sometimes don’t do well in the first half. Sometimes, the jitters get the best of us. It happens. But we played well. “
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