Both the Bobcats and Lakers punched their tickets to the finale with wins on Thursday. Second-seeded Rangeley (18-2) downed No. 5 Vinalhaven in a tough 54-46 affair, while No. 1 Richmond shook off a rough start against fourth-seeded Seacoast Christian for a 54-28 victory.
“I expect it’s going to be one of the best games of the tournament,” said Richmond coach Molly Bishop of Saturday’s game. Richmond won both contests this year in close fashion, 43-41 at Richmond and 43-40 at Rangeley on Feb. 6. “We want to challenge their guards, get hands in their faces and deny the ball to the inside, preventing cuts across the middle.”
Guardians ‘D’ up
Richmond struggled against the Seacoast (16-4) defense throughout the first half, shooting just 21 percent (eight of 37) from the field.
The Guardians, behind five first-quarter points from Ruth Towne, led 9-7 after eight minutes, despite nine turnovers.
Bobcats center Jamie Plummer began finding some room in the paint. She forced the smaller Seacoast lineup into foul trouble as Jenny English picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter, while Towne, Shannon Kunz and Kirin DeSmith each were saddled with two infractions.
Plummer scored eight of Richmond’s first nine secondquarter points as the Bobcats used an 11-2 run for an 18-11 lead. Ciarra Lancaster rebounded her own missed free throw and converted to give Richmond a 21-13 edge at the half.
Richmond came out determined to put the Guardians away in the third quarter, scoring the first 11 points in a 2:08 span for a 32-13 lead.
“Their defense forced us into some things and we had to see it a few times down the court until we adjusted to their set-up zone, and in the second half we needed to do more defensively to not allow them to set up and we did that,” said Bishop.
“We wanted to have an intense first half, but that is not the way it played out,” said Plummer, who added six points to her totals in the third quarter. “When we played them earlier in the season, the same thing happened. We just had to pick it up and take off in the second half and that is what we did.”
Towne brought Seacoast back, scoring nine third-quarter points and adding a short jumper early in the fourth to bring the Guardians to within 12, 40-28. But, the senior fouled out with 5:46 remaining and Seacoast failed to score from there as Richmond closed the contest on a 14-0 run, with Guardians Kunz and DeSmith both fouling out down the stretch.
“Ruth Towne is a great player, and early on they picked up a lot of fouls, so I just kept trying to go to the basket,” said Plummer, who finished with a game-high 20 points.
Plummer had a double-double, adding 12 rebounds, four steals and four blocked shots, while Brianna Snedeker chipped in nine points, including a big 3-pointer early in the third quarter, the only trey of the contest for both sides.
“Seacoast has some scrappy guard play and their defense takes away some of the easy shots outside,” said Bishop. “The kids, to their credit, did hit a couple shots outside and forced them to come out and guard them, freeing up Jamie inside.”
Also for Richmond, Alyssa Pearson added eight points and nine rebounds, Lancaster seven points and Danica Hurley six points and four assists. Noell Acord pulled down five caroms and had three steals.
The Bobcats shot 31 percent (20 of 63) from the field and made 13 of 26 foul shots. Richmond owned a 39-25 edge in rebounds and forced 32 Seacoast turnovers.
DeSmith added six points, nine rebounds and four steals for the Guardians, who made 11 of 46 shots (23 percent) and six of eight from the line.
No. 1 Richmond 54, No. 4 Seacoast Christian 28
Western Maine Class D Girls Semifinal
At the Augusta Civic Center
Seacoast — 9 4 13 2 — 28
Richmond — 7 14 19 14 — 54
Seacoast — Shannon Kunz 1-2-4, Jenny English 1-0-2, Ruth Towne 7-2-16, Kirin DeSmith 2-2-6, Kylene DeSmith 0-0-0, Kristin Wittner 0-0-0, Laken Kerrigan 0-0-0, Ali Morin 0-0-0, Katelyn Stoll 0-0-0, Paige Morin 0-0-0, Julia Lord 0-0-0.
Totals — 11-6-28.
Richmond — Jamie Plummer 5-10-20, Noell Acord 1-0-2, Alyssa Pearson 4-0-8, Brianna Snedeker 3-2-9, Danica Hurley 3- 0-6, Lindsy Hoopingarner 0-0-0, Payton Johnson 0-0-0, Ciarra Lancaster 3-1-7, Haley Murphy 0-0-0, Morgan Harrington 0-0-0, Michaela Lewia 1-0-2.
Totals —20-13-54.
3-point field goal — (R) Snedeker.
Records — Richmond 18-1, Seacoast Christian 16-4.
Next for the Bobcats — Saturday against No. 2 Rangeley at the Augusta Civic Center in the Western D final, 1 p.m.
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