AUGUSTA — Old Orchard Beach employed its pressure defense. It also created shots.

What Old Orchard Beach didn’t do was score.

The fourth-seeded Seagulls couldn’t overcome poor shooting and fell to fifth-ranked Mountain Valley 41-27 in the Western Class C girls’ basketball quarterfinals Tuesday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

Haley Plante led the Seagulls (15-4) with nine points. Mackenzie Rague scored eight. Falcons guard Emily Laubauskas led all scorers with 10.

Old Orchard Beach missed its first 12 shots. The Seagulls shot only 6 percent (2 of 36) in the first half and trailed 21-7.

“We got good looks. We did what we wanted to do. We just didn’t finish,” Coach Dean Plante said. “You exert a lot of effort and don’t get rewarded; it gets frustrating for everybody.”

Advertisement

Mountain Valley (15-5) used a 1-3-1 zone defense. The Falcons yielded outside shots but contested everything close.

“We knew they loved taking the ball to the hole,” Coach Ryan Casey said. “We worked hard on good team defense.”

Offensively the Falcons did enough. Despite making 28 turnovers, they shot 43 percent for the game. After Laubauskas drove in for two baskets and hit a free throw for an 18-7 lead in the second quarter, the lead remained in double digits.

“We were really nervous about their press,” said Falcons forward Ashley Russell, who scored nine. “But once we really took it at them … we got it done.”

Mountain Valley’s offense wasn’t the problem for Old Orchard Beach.

“They did nothing we didn’t expect,” Coach Plante said. “Most teams, if we hold them to 41 points, we’re going to win. We averaged 56 a game this year.

Advertisement

“It really came down to our offensive output not being there tonight. … We had shots we normally hit but we didn’t. A big part of that is the venue. A big part of that is everything is magnified.”

Mountain Valley starts three sophomores (including Russell) and two juniors. Laubauskas, a sophomore, was one of the first reserves.

The Falcons have won eight straight.

“We lost some close games early,” Casey said. “We finally got over the hump and won those close games. That showed a lot of growth. They believed they could win.”

Old Orchard Beach will graduate four players, all starters – Haley Plante, Rague, Abigail Dubois and Lauralee Small.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.