AUGUSTA

If fans entering the Augusta Civic Center Tuesday morning were looking for an offensive display, they picked the wrong Western Maine Class D girls high school quarterfinal.

Both Richmond and Hyde were known for their defensive prowess entering the 4-5 matchup, and the resulting 32-22 result in favor of the fourth-seeded Bobcats was not a surprise to Richmond coach Mike Ladner.

How good was Richmond’s defense? Hyde failed to score in the second quarter as the Bobcats turned a 6-6 deadlock through one into an 18-6 halftime lead.

“The second quarter was definitely a momentum changer, and defense is something that we have preached all year,” said Ladner. “We are a defensive team. We don’t put a lot of points on the board. We play great defense and love to score on transition.”

“We made some costly mistakes, struggled, and they played a good help-help man, and their outside drops were dropping and ours wasn’t,” said Hyde coach Jen Lobozzo.

Richmond guard Meranda Martin had the tough task of guarding Hyde standout Lili Allen. She did a solid job, holding Allen to eight points.

“Lilli felt a lot of pressure, knowing she needed to be the one player,” said Lobozzo, whose fifth-seeded Phoenix finished 14-5. “You can’t win a game one on five, and Martin did a good job on her.”

“We practiced and knew that we had to buck up and get on that one girl,” said Martin, who picked up five points, three assists and three steals. “Coach put me on her because I am quick, and I stuck with her as best as I could.”

“I told Meranda all week that ‘you are going to be on Lilli Allen the whole game,’ and she is our defensive stopper and did a great job all game,” said Ladner.

Neither team came out firing in the first quarter. Hyde led on three occasions, the last a 6-4 edge with 3:37 remaining in the quarter. That was it for the Phoenix offensively in the first half as Richmond took over. Sydney Tilton tied the game late in frame, and the Bobcats slowly pulled away in the second, taking a 12-point lead to the break.

Firing up

The Hyde faithful, as usual a loud and rowdy bunch come tournament time, made a tunnel to greet the Phoenix before the second half began. The support seemed to help, as Allen hit a pair of free throws to end a 12:34 stretch without a point. After Kelsea Anair swished a 3-pointer and Tilton went hard to the hoop for a 23-8 Richmond lead, Diamond Brown hit a short jumper for Hyde’s first field goal in over 15 minutes.

Anair’s second trey upped Richmond’s lead to a gamehigh 16 points, 28-12, but Brown answered from behind the arc and Jillian Tolman made 2-of-3 at the free-throw line to get Hyde to 28-17 after three quarters.

“For them to pick up their heads, come through this tunnel our school had for them, for me it was one of the proudest moments that I have had with this team,” said Lobozzo.

Hyde continued to come in the fourth. Allen hit a 3- pointer and Emma Levensohn made two at the charity stripe to make for a 28-22 contest with 5:53 remaining. Hyde had three chances to narrow the gap, but Richmond’s defense, which forced 29 turnovers, came through again.

Anair had a game-high 12 points for Richmond (13-6), while Tilton had a doubledouble with 10 points and 11 rebounds. The Bobcats were 13-of-50 from the field (26 percent), while Hyde made just 5-of-36 (13 percent).

Brown picked up 10 points to pace Hyde. Levensohn pulled down nine rebounds, while Lutes Bartlett had six caroms.

At the foul line, Richmond finished 4-of-15, while Hyde was 10-of-18.

No. 4 Richmond 32, No. 5 Hyde 22

Western D Girls Quarterfinal At the Augusta Civic Center

Hyde — Diamond Brown 3-3-10, Emma Levensohn 0-2-2, Lutes Bartlett 0-0-0, Jillian Tolman 0-2-2, Lilli Allen 2-3-8, Timesha Walker 0-0- 0, Kristine Bailey 0-0-0, Kelsey Talbutt 0-0-0. Totals — 5-10-22. Richmond — Sydney Tilton 5-0-10, Cassidy Harriman 0-0-0, Kelsea Anair 4-2-12, Meranda Martin 2-1-5, Autumn Acord 1-0-2, Kalah Patterson 1-0-2, Jade Gammon 0-0-0, Emily Douin 0-1-1, Jenn Snedeker 0-0-0, Tala Abu Hayyanch 0-0-0. Totals — 13-4-32. 3-point field goals — (H) Brown, Allen; (R) Anair 2. Records — Richmond 13-6, Hyde 14-5. Notes — Richmond will meet No. 9 Vinalhaven in a Western D semifinal on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Hyde’s season is completed.