Mt. Abram’s Andrew Rother celebrates at the end of the Roadrunners' 61-59 win over Hall-Dale in a Class C South semifinal Thursday in Augusta. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — They go by the Roadrunners, and running is how the Mt. Abram boys basketball team pulled off a win Thursday night in one of the most thrilling games of the 2025 Maine high school basketball tournament.

With his team protecting a two-point lead in the closing seconds a Class C South semifinal against Hall-Dale, Reagan Lockaby made a clutch block, grabbed the rebound and passed to Killian Pillsbury, who was already well past the Bulldogs as he ran the floor in transition. 

All Pillsbury had to do was run out the last few seconds as Mt. Abram prevailed, 61-59. The win sends the top-seeded Roadrunners (19-1) to Saturday’s regional title game, where they’ll face Monmouth Academy for the second year in a row.

“I didn’t even hear the fans behind me (because I was so in the zone), but it was just a feeling of relief,” said Mt. Abram coach Jeff Pillsbury. “Hall-Dale forced turnovers, and they battled us to the end, but we just kept working hard. It was a great game.”

How Mt. Abram did it

• Killian Pillsbury: The senior guard erupted early, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. He then added nine points in the fourth, keying a crucial run for the Roadrunners after Hall-Dale took a 52-45 lead.

• Mt. Abram showed resilience with Bryce Wilcox, its top scorer, in foul trouble for much of the game. He fouled out 10 seconds into the fourth quarter with just two points, but the Roadrunners outscored Hall-Dale 18-12 with Wilcox out of the game.

• Second-chance points made a huge difference. Although Mt. Abram’s 24-of-68 shooting from the field was paltry, the Roadrunners made just one fewer field goal than Hall-Dale, as 16 offensive rebounds allowed them to take 16 more shots.

What it means

• Hall-Dale’s season ends in the regional semifinals for the second consecutive year. Although the Bulldogs shot 50 percent from the field, their 20 turnovers and Mt. Abram’s offensive rebounding prevented them from getting the possessions they needed.

• Mt. Abram was also the No. 1 seed last year, when Monmouth won 46-43 in the regional final en route to its first state title.

“We just want to win it,” Killian Pillsbury said. “We should have won it back-to-back years. It didn’t happen, but we’re coming back strong.”

They said it

“I’m just proud of our guys. I’ve got four kids that haven’t been to practice (because of sicknesses), but we just kept working. It’s tough when Bryce is out, but our kids went all-out — they gave it everything they had — and we were fortunate to get some tips and some steals.” — Jeff Pillsbury

“I feel like we played with the right spirit — I thought we played hard enough to win — but we made mistakes down the stretch. We didn’t convert when we had opportunities to, we turned the basketball over, and we didn’t guard. We lost our assignments, and they made us pay.” — Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow

“(Running out the clock) was awesome. I knew we were going to pull it out, but I knew it was going to be close. It’s playoff time, and everyone wants to win.” — Killian Pillsbury

Stat leaders

• Hall-Dale: Karter Eldridge (18 points, 12 in the second quarter), Keegan Cary (14 points), Matt Waller (11 points)

• Mt. Abram: Killian Pillsbury (26 points), Brennan Mitchell (15 points, 12 rebounds), Reagan Lockaby (12 points, 11 rebounds)