AUGUSTA – Top-seeded Boothbay Region finally got into its transition game late in the third quarter and pulled away from fourth-seeded Madison for a 55-41 win in a Western Class C boys’ basketball semifinal Thursday night at the Augusta Civic Center.
John Hepburn, a sophomore, scored 20 points to help send the Seahawks into Saturday night’s regional final against second-seeded Waynflete.
Additional Photos
Boothbay (18-3) started the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run to open a 50-39 lead.
“We got in transition a little bit and got some baskets before they had a chance to set up their defense,” Boothbay Coach I.J. Pinkham said. “When both teams are playing a zone defense like that it’s really a drag. It doesn’t go very fast and that tends to slow us down.”
The teams looked like mirror images through the first three quarters. Boothbay point guard Anthony DiMauro put in an offensive rebound with 1:25 left in the third quarter to snap a 35-35 tie and put the Seahawks ahead for good.
“In the second half we rebounded a lot better,” Pinkham said. “We didn’t give up many second shots. They got one shot and then we got the rebound, and that was a big difference in the second half.”
Madison (12-8) scored just one basket in the fourth quarter, and that came when Steven Lawrence put in an offensive rebound with 14 seconds left.
The Seahawks held a 26-25 lead at the end of the first half.
Madison was up 25-18 after Raymond Miller sank his second 3-pointer in less than two minutes, but Boothbay finished the first half with an 8-0 run.
A lot of Hepburn’s points came on offensive rebounds.
“He misses a number of shots but he follows them up,” Pinkham said. “He’s there all the time putting them back up.”
Hepburn, a 6-foot-2 forward, simply wouldn’t give up on the ball.
“You just can’t get down when you miss (a shot),” he said. “You just have to go back and get it, and I don’t quit until the ball’s in.”
The Seahawks also got 13 points from Andrew Hallinan and 10 from DiMauro.
Lawrence and Austin Kane each scored 11 points for Madison.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.