AUGUSTA — The Valley girls basketball rolled through its Class S competition during the regular season.

Nothing changed in the playoffs.

The top-seeded Cavaliers held Forest Hills to one point in the second quarter, turning a six-point lead into a 27-point advantage on their way to a 79-29 win in the Class S South final Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

“We’re worried about the next shot, not the last shot,” Valley’s Kirsten Bigelow said. “Even if it’s the other team and we all gotta be pumped up.”

Valley (20-1) and will face North champ Wisdom in the Class S title game at 11:05 a.m. next Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Cavaliers were dominant in the South bracket, outscoring their opponents 221-64. That dominance was on display in the second and third quarters Saturday, when Valley held Forest Hills to three points.

Forest Hills pulled with 23-17 when Addison Chaisson was fouled on a 3-point attempt at the end of the first quarter and made all three foul shots.

Valley took over from there.

Cavaliers coach Gordon Hartwell said he began to break the game down into four-minute stretches.

“But I knew from then on it was almost like, get into the first four minutes (of the second), last couple minutes of the second, and then the first four minutes of the third,” Hartwell said. “That’s generally, you can take a team out to a point if you mentally don’t let them get back, because we had a little bit of a lead at that point. (The) girls stepped up defensively.”

Liana Hartwell scored seven of her 21 points in the second quarter, and Valley took a 45-18 lead into the halftime. She added 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

Bigelow scored nine of her 13 points in the second half.

Gordon Hartwell said both played pivotal roles.

“They’re constants, I expect it from them, and I generally get it,” he said. “They don’t force it, but if you give them the looks, they’re certainly more than willing and recognizing it to take it.”

Forest Hills (16-5) hit its first field goal since the first quarter with 2:10 remaining in the fourth.

Delia Hill finished with 20 points for Valley, including six of their first eight points to start the game.

Macie Baker led the Tigers with six points.

Back to the state final

The Cavaliers are trying to win their second straight state championship, after beating Central Aroostook 47-27 in the Class D final last season.

“We don’t really look at last year as, ‘Oh, we’re going to make it,’” Bigelow said.

Gordon Hartwell said the Cavaliers put last season behind them when they hit the floor for the first practice in November.

“If you keep looking back to last year, then, again, you’re not taking care of this year,” he said. “This is a new team; you’ve got sophomores who are now juniors. Everybody’s stepped up, gone up a level, so it is completely different.”