Strong shooting sends Mt. Ararat girls basketball to Class A North final

Mt. Ararat’s Julianna Allen claps while celebrating with teammates after a 69-48 win over Edward Little in a Class A North semifinal Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center. (Libby Kamrowski Kenny/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

AUGUSTA — For one half, the Mt. Ararat girls basketball team had trouble pulling away from Edward Little in a Class A North semifinal.

But the Eagles’ offense was simply too hot, and the reigning state champions cruised to a 69-48 win Wednesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The top-seeded Eagles (19-1) made seven 3-pointers and had four players who scored at least nine points. Kayleigh Wagg (19 points, four rebounds), Julianna Allen (13 points, six rebounds) and Jaelyn Jensen (nine points, seven points) led the way for Mt. Ararat, while sophomore Cali LeClair added 11 points.

“We do have a few girls who can shoot it,” said Mt. Ararat coach Julie Petrie. “That’s really great, because I felt like we didn’t shoot well here last year. We shoot a lot in practice and it’s great to see that come to fruition at tourney time.”

Mt. Ararat will meet No. 2 Hampden Academy in the regional final at 7 p.m. Friday in Augusta. The Broncos (16-4) beat No. 3 Camden Hills 41-39 on Wednesday. The regional final will be a rematch of last year’s state final, which Mt. Ararat won, 43-31.

Edward Little finished 15-5. Elizabeth Galway, a sophomore, led the Red Eddies with 13 points and four rebounds, while freshman Xavi Hall added 11 points.

The first quarter was a scoring slugfest. Edward Little started the game with an 8-0 run, but Mt. Ararat — which tied the Class A North tournament record with 11 3-pointers in a 62-24 quarterfinal win over Skowhegan — knocked down three 3-pointers and surged into a 24-17 lead. By halftime, Mt. Ararat had a 36-26 advantage.

“We just had to tell ourselves to calm down, we’ve been in big games like this before,” Wagg said. “We shoot well, we do it a lot in practice. We just keep telling ourselves to keep shooting.”

The Eagles ran away with the game in the third quarter, thanks to 6-0 and 9-0 runs. Wagg scored eight of her 19 points in the third, helping Mt. Ararat stretch its lead to 55-35.

“We played well, (Mt. Ararat) just played better,” said Edward Little coach Frank Perry. “We scored enough to win, they just scored more. Their shooting percentage was unbelievable.”