AUGUSTA — Traip Academy Coach Paul Marquis gave Alli Barrett the green light to shoot 3-pointers Tuesday night.

Good move.

Barrett sank her first four 3-pointers to help the fourth-seeded Rangers pull out a 56-49 victory over fifth-ranked Old Orchard Beach in a Western Class C girls’ basketball quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.

“Usually I’m not the 3-point shooter but once one went in (the coach) told me to let them go,” said Barrett, who scored a game-high 21 points as Traip beat Old Orchard for the third time this season.

“I did what he said and I was lucky enough to put them in.”

The Seagulls, making their first quarterfinal appearance since 2002, gave the Rangers all they could handle.

“We changed some of the things we do in terms of handling their pressure and we had a defensive game plan that the kids executed really well,” Coach Dean Plante said. “A couple of calls either way down the stretch and we’re playing Thursday.”

The Rangers, who advanced to the semifinals for the second consecutive year, finished with a 10-3 run.

“Old Orchard is (made up) of a lot of young girls who hadn’t been here before, but they played with no fear,” Marquis said. “Certainly experience can take you a long way. We lost our first opportunity here a couple of years ago and I think it served us well last year.”

Traip Academy (11-8) took an 11-4 lead when Old Orchard had trouble handling a 1-2-2 press. But the Seagulls adjusted and played the Rangers on more than even terms until the fourth quarter.

Old Orchard (11-8) led 19-18 when Christina Colman hit both ends of the bonus with 5:51 left in the half. The Seagulls took a 27-24 lead when Kelsey Custeau sank a 3-pointer with 1:52 left.

With 1:28 left in the first half, Selena Lorrey, who scored her 1,000th career point against Old Orchard in the regular season, drove the baseline for a layup to pull the Rangers within 27-26.

The Seagulls carried a 39-38 lead into the fourth quarter. At that point the Rangers switched to a 1-3-1 half-court trap and it paid off. They ran off the first seven points of the final quarter to open a 45-39 lead.

“We tried to mix it up,” Marquis said. “With a young team like they have, if you show them a different front, different types of pressure, hopefully it wears on them.”

Old Orchard closed the gap when freshman Haley Plante converted a three-point play to make it 46-45 with 3:15 left. But the Rangers closed it out.

“We want to win with our defense and that really wasn’t the case today,” Marquis said. “Obviously, Old Orchard created a lot of opportunities.”

Lorrey scored eight of her 15 points in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH

 

 

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