AUGUSTA — It’s a tough draw when a No. 10 seed takes on a No. 2 seed in any playoff bracket.
The Mt. Abram girls basketball team was faced with that task Monday afternoon against Boothbay.
Although the Roadrunners stayed close in the first quarter, the Seahawks caught fire and cruised to a 60-21 win in a Class C South quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.
Boothbay (18-1) advanced to play No. 3 Monmouth in the semifinals on Thursday in Augusta. Mt. Abram finished 11-9.
A mix of offensive struggles and a hot Seahawks offense ultimately did the Roadrunners in. Boothbay had two double-double performances in guard Faith Blethen (15 points, 10 rebounds) and forward Page Brown (15 points, 12 rebounds). The Seahawks also received a big game from guard Sydney Meader, who scored 14 points.
“We don’t have any quit in us,” Mt. Abram head coach Larry Donald said. “And we couldn’t throw it into the ocean (offensively), especially early in the game before (Boothbay) started creeping on us. We make a few shots, we stay in it.”
Both teams had its struggles in the first quarter, but the trio of Meader, Brown and Blethen awoke in the second quarter, outscoring the Roadrunners 22-8 in the period to head into halftime with a comfortable 32-10 lead.
“We know (Mt. Abram) plays hard, it doesn’t matter how far ahead you are,” Blethen said. “They’re just going to keep fighting, which they did. We also knew that all of their kids were pretty skilled but (Megan Sorel), (Summer Ross) and (Lindsay Huff) were really intense and gritty players.”
The Boothbay offense stayed hot in the second half. From mid-third quarter until mid-fourth quarter, the Seahawks went on a 21-0 run.
“We kind of knew they were going to run a triangle and two (defense), so we just prepared for that,” Blethen said.
Sophomore guard Summer Ross was the offensive bright spot for Mt. Abram, which beat Hebron Academy 49-42 in the preliminary round. Ross scored a team-high 12 points for the Roadrunners, including two 3-pointers.
Though the outcome wasn’t what he had hoped, Donald was happy with his team for playing in the Civic Center.
“Our goal was to get back to Augusta,” Donald said. “They haven’t been here for five years. We got here, we played a team that’s predicted to win it all. We lost to arguably the better team. (Boothbay) is a good team, no doubt about it.”
Dave Dyer — 621-5639
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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