AUGUSTA

Brunswick High School girls basketball coach Sam Farrell was frustrated. His team, the same. Foul call after foul call went against his Dragons, with Lawrence standout Nia Irving and her teammates making steady trips to the free-throw line.

But, Farrell kept calming his charges, telling them to play on and to keep working.

This story doesn’t end with a miracle, as the second-seeded Bulldogs produced a 62-52 Eastern A semifinal win over the sixth-seeded and scrappy Dragons at the Augusta Civic Center on Wednesday.

But, the effort put forth by Brunswick is something those in attendance will surely remember, especially in a perfectly-played first half that produced a 37-30 Dragons lead.

“On paper I don’t know how good we are, but the chemistry we have is superb,” said Farrell, whose team lost the regular-season finale to Lawrence, 71-50. “I want these girls to play as hard as they can. There is no one in this state that can say they don’t play as hard as they can. These young kids want to play and are hungry. I didn’t see one bit of nerves today.”

Thinking of young kids, freshman Sabrina Armstrong had the game of her young varsity life. She netted 14 first-half points, nine coming in the second quarter, including a 3-pointer that staked Brunswick to a 35-28 lead.

“Sabrina, as a freshman, just stepped up, and we took it to them,” said Julia Champagne, the lone Brunswick senior who scored 16 points, pulled down six boards, dished out six assists and had four steals.

Junior Adrianna White and sophomore Madeline Suhr each had eight points in the loss, while junior Gillian Doehring picked up six points and four assists.

“We did all that we could do,” said Champagne.

Irving

Despite Brunswick shooting 55 percent (16-of-29) in the first half, Lawrence stayed close thanks to Irving. She scored 13 of her team’s 17 secondquarter points.

Irving continued to roll in the third quarter. She picked up 13 more points to give her 30 and led the Bulldogs (19- 1) back.

“We know how great Nia is and we knew she would score points, but she had such an amazing game,” said Champagne.

Fouls became a problem for Brunswick. Suhr picked up her fourth early in the third, and Champagne was whistled for her fourth near the end of the quarter. And, Lawrence scored the first 19 points of the second half for a 49-37 lead and appeared on its way of putting the Dragons away.

Once again, Brunswick pushed back, this time in the fourth quarter. Despite losing Suhr and Armstrong to fouls in the frame, the Dragons closed to within three, 53-50, after an 8-0 run. Champagne had three points in the spurt, forcing a Lawrence timeout with 3:52 remaining.

Champagne said those on the floor with four fouls, including herself, Emily Black and White, talked about not fouling out.

“We were telling each other not to foul,” said the senior. “I wanted to end the season in the game and not on the bench.”

“She is such a special kid,” said Farrell of Champagne. “Two years ago, she didn’t see the playoffs. She doesn’t have to score a bunch of points. She is pushing the glass, and is just one of the best teammates that a team can have. If I had a daughter, I would want her to watch Julia.”

Irving finished off her 33- point, 14-rebound game by making three more free throws down the stretch. She was 15-of-16 at the foul line, with the Bulldogs making 30-of-34 from the charity stripe in the game. Paige Belanger chipped in 11 points, nine boards and four assists in the win, while Abby Weigang added six points. Lawrence held a demanding 31-17 edge on the glass.

Brunswick finished 22-of- 45 from the field (49 percent) and made 3-of-7 at the freethrow line.

Champagne summed up the Brunswick season before she made her final walk from the locker room to the exit sign.

“A team like this, I wouldn’t have changed anything about this year and the teammates that I had,” said Champagne.

No. 2 Lawrence 62, No. 6 Brunswick 52

Eastern A Semifinals

At the Augusta Civic Center

Brunswick	—	18	19	5	10	—	52
Lawrence	—	13	17	23	9	—	62

Brunswick — Madeline Suhr 3-0-8, Adrianna White 4-0-8, Emily Black 0-0-0, Gillian Doehring 2-1-6, Julia Champagne 7-2-16, Sabrina Armstrong 6-0-14, Kolby Levesque 0-0-0, Aiden Sachs 0-0-0, Brianna Newton 0-0-0, Alicia Armstrong 0-0-0, Brooke Barter 0-0-0, Heather Kinee 0-0-0, Margeret Dickinson 0-0- 0. Totals — 22-3-52 Lawrence — Paige Belanger 2-7-11, Nia Irving 9-15- 33, Abby Weigang 2-2-6, Jordyn Towers 0-2-2, Dominique Lewis 1-2-5, Morgan Boudreau 1-2-5, Emily Tozier 0-0-0, Kiana Letourneau 0-0-0, Camryn Caldwell 0-0-0, Carly LaRochelle 0-0-0, Molly Folsom 0-0-0, Elise Guimond 0-0-0. Totals — 15-30-62. 3-point field goals — (B) Suhr 2, Armstrong 2, Doehring; (L) Lewis, Boudreau. Records — Lawrence 19-1, Brunswick 12-8. Notes — Lawrence meets top-seeded Bangor (a 47- 45 winner over Edward Little) on Saturday in the Eastern A Regional final. Brunswick’s season is over.