AUGUSTA – Richmond senior Jamie Plummer was quiet and contained in a sluggish first half Saturday in the Western Class D girls’ basketball championship game against Rangeley.
She was loud and explosive in a dominant second half, which made all the difference in a 48-36 victory at the Augusta Civic Center that propelled the Bobcats to the Class D state championship game for a third consecutive year.
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“It means the world,” Plummer said. “This is what we’re here to do. We’re so blessed to go back to a third straight state championship. It feels amazing.”
Plummer scored 11 of her 15 points in the second half and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead No. 2 Richmond (17-3), which led just 19-17 at halftime.
Ciarra Lancaster also scored 15 points, and Noell Acord added seven for the Bobcats, who will meet Washburn at 1:05 p.m. Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium. Washburn (21-0) beat Richmond in each of the previous two state championship games.
“It just feels great,” Lancaster said. “We had to step it up and we did that.”
Top-seeded Rangeley, which led just once at 3-2, finished 19-2.
Abby Abbott scored 12 points, and Blayke Morin added 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Lakers. Tori Letarte finished with nine points.
But Seve Deery-DeRaps and Taylor Esty, two consistent scoring threats earlier in the tournament, combined for just six points.
“I feel like offensively we had some people who usually perform for us and they didn’t,” said Rangeley Coach Heidi Deery, whose team made just nine field goals.
“They’re young. We needed some offense out of some people and we didn’t get it. We couldn’t get anything going.”
Neither team did early.
Rangeley made just one field goal in the first quarter and, despite Plummer’s early struggles, quickly fell behind 16-7.
Then it was Richmond’s turn to go cold. The Bobcats shot 1 of 11 in the second quarter.
“We kept it close in the first half,” said Esty, who grabbed nine rebounds.
And that, Deery added, was the goal from the get-go.
“I felt good coming out of halftime,” she said. “We were right where we wanted to be. I just wanted to hang around long enough that they started pressuring themselves.”
It didn’t happen.
Lancaster scored seven points in the opening three minutes of the third quarter, including a 3-pointer, and the Bobcats were off and running.
“In the second half we had to step it up and we wanted to get the ball inside,” said Lancaster.
Added Bishop: “We didn’t let up. Once things started separating a little bit in the third quarter, I think the girls got pretty confident.”
The confidence carried over into the fourth quarter, when Plummer took over.
She scored two quick baskets on putbacks as Richmond stretched its lead to 37-27.
“A couple times I was just open,” she said. “I was able to get my feet set and get off a good shot. I tried to box out on the weak side and tried to get the putback.
“Our intensity slipped up a little bit. We had to try to pick that back up in the second half and we were able to do that.”
Plummer sank a 3-pointer from the wing with 2:40 left to stretch the lead to 44-31.
“We didn’t foul as much in the second half,” said Bishop. “The rest of the kids were eager to step up. We just put the ball in the basket.”
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