Hall-Dale lost to Jay in the regular season, so when coach Brandon Terrill saw Traip dismantle Jay early in their quarterfinal game, he knew Traip would be a tough matchup.

“They came out extremely hard and extremely aggressive,” Terrill said. “I was impressed. I was very impressed. Anytime you can come in here and beat a team like Jay — who I thought was as good as anybody in the tournament coming in — it’s impressive.”

Top-ranked Hall-Dale (18-1) will face fifth-seeded Traip (11-6) at 4 p.m. today at the Augusta Civic Center. Both teams had strong showings in the quarterfinals.

Hall-Dale forced 41 turnovers and allowed only nine points in the second half to run away from a pesky Georges Valley team, 59-30. Traip led Jay by double digits in the first quarter, and after Jay took the lead in the fourth quarter and Traip was in foul trouble, the Rangers ended the game on a 14-2 run.

“Offensively, they relentlessly attack the basket off the dribble drive,” Terrill said of Traip. “So, first thing we’re going to have to work on defending is the dribble drive. Defensively, they’ve got kind of some funky zones. We’re going to have to draw those up and talk about how to attack those.”

Guard Sarah Orr and forward Selena Lorrey were the big scorers for Traip in the quarterfinals, and the Rangers often shot quickly and with good results. Hall-Dale’s two main weapons are Taylor Massey and Carylanne Wolfington, both of whom can score near the basket or step back and sink a 3-pointer.

In the other semifinal, No. 2 Waynflete (16-3) takes on No. 3 Livermore Falls (16-3) at 2:30 p.m.

Waynflete’s game against St. Dominic in the quarterfinals became the Martha Veroneau show, as the sophomore guard hit a tournament record seven 3-pointers on her way to 37 points.

“The thing is, is how quick she gets her shot off,” Livermore Falls coach Mark Simpson said. “There aren’t many girls that do that. To defend that, it’s going to be tough. If you extend at all, she’ll go by you, too.”

While Waynflete ran its way to 69 points against St. Dominic, Livermore Falls prefers a much slower game, with 5-foot-11 center Marissa Welch a key to the offense. The Andies have held 15 of their 19 opponents to less than 35 points, while Waynflete has scored less than 35 points only once all season.

“We need to pound it inside, and we need to control the pace,” Simpson said. “If we don’t control the pace, and we get running with them, it’s over — just like it was for St. Dom’s.”

Waynflete coach Brandon Salway said the Flyers will need to contain Welch, but not at the expense of ignoring Livermore Falls’ other scoring threats.

“I don’t think you can concentrate on Welch and forget about everybody else,” Salway said. “I like their team. I think they’ve got good guard play, and their other players are pretty talented, too.”

Waynflete is averaging 51.8 points per game this season, and Salway think a big reason is the mental aspect of the game.

“Our whole mantra all year has been just to play without fear and not worry about missing shots,” Salway said. “You’re going to miss shots. We want to play aggressive offensively. Sometimes that gets you into trouble in game, but I think for the most part, when kids aren’t playing scared (and) they’re not afraid to shoot, they end up shooting better.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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