AUGUSTA — Mt. Blue overcame a dismal first half with a strong second-half shooting performance to stop No. 5 Lawrence 47-36 in an Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal game Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.
Fueled by juniors Eric Berry and Cam Sennick, the Cougars took charge of the game early in the fourth quarter.
Fourth-seeded Mt. Blue (15-4) plays the Bangor-Brunswick winner in the semifinals Wednesday while Lawrence closed its season at 10-9.
Mt. Blue trailed 13-6 at the half after shooting just 2 of 16 from the field. Berry scored 14 of his team-high 17 points in the final two quarters while Sennick scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
“We just worked harder,” Sennick said of the second half. “We passed better, we swung the ball. In the first half we didn’t do any of that.”
Lawrence struggled as well, shooting just 5 of 17 in the first half.
Senior Xaviere Scott provided the offense for the Bulldogs with nine of his game-high 19 points in the first two quarter.
The Cougars also did a nice job on Lawrence’s other big scorer, Spencer Carey, holding the sophomore center to three points before he fouled out.
“We worked on it all week,” Sennick said. “Double teaming, fronting, doing all we could. When he scores, he can score.”
In addition to a stifling 2-3 zone, the Cougars employed an effective zone press, which was partially responsible for Lawrence’s 23 turnovers.
“Mt. Blue was able to speed us up and get us throwing the ball around,” Lawrence coach Mike McGee said.
The Cougars pulled away early in the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run in which Sennick scored three layups.
“We had a couple of guys in foul trouble and they were able to get the ball inside a little easier,” McGee said.
Scott went scoreless in the fourth quarter as the Cougars limited his shots, Offensively, they shot 16 for 22 in the second half.
“You can’t show up for the big game and have one guy scoring,” McGee said. “We had nobody making plays and nobody scoring but X. Xaviere had a sensational game. I think he turned a lot of heads tonight.”
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