AUGUSTA — Riley Robinson poured in 26 points to lead second-seeded Dirigo to a 58-36 win against No. 3 Waynflete in a Western Class C boys’ basketball semifinal Friday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Cougars will play No. 8 Maranacook for the regional title at 8:45 p.m. Saturday. It will be Dirigo’s first appearance in the final since completing a string of four regional titles in 2012.

“I’ve never won this game before,” Robinson said. “We lost (in the semifinals) the past two years, and, I’ll tell you what, it feels real nice to win it.”

The Cougars (18-2) did it by outmuscling the Flyers (16-2), the reigning Western Maine champions.

“They took us out of what we wanted to run,” Waynflete Coach Rich Henry said. “They were more physical then we were, a little bit more focused than we were.”

“We just battled defensively,” said Dirigo Coach Travis Magnusson. “Every single possession, we blocked out.”

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The Cougars raced out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter, when they nailed all four of their 3-point attempts.

Waynflete got untracked offensively in the second quarter but still trailed 32-24 at halftime. Dirigo then started the second half with an 8-2 run.

“We just wanted to come out and run the floor,” Robinson said. “We wanted to play hard and play with energy.”

The Flyers, who had just two starters back from their championship team, got no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

“The pressure of playing in this place can really get to young players sometimes,” Henry said.

Dirigo finished the game with a 12-0 run.

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Robinson, a 6-2 junior forward and a two-time Mountain Valley Conference player of the year, became Dirigo’s leading scorer. He has 1,330 points, eclipsing the record set by Tom Knight.

“They’ve got a very special player in Robinson,” Henry said. “He’s very crafty in getting the ball … The other players know how to get him the ball and know how to play very effective complimentary roles.”

“My teammates do it all for me, really,” Robinson said. “They’re really unselfish. They find me for wide-open 3s, for wide-open cuts to the basket. I can’t do it without them. They make me look good.”

Robinson was the only Dirigo player to score in double figures.

Yai Deng, a 6-4 sophomore forward, led Waynflete with 10 points.


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