Cagney O’Brien scored 22 points and Gabrielle Wajer added 19 to lead Lincoln Academy to a 60-39 victory over Mountain Valley in a Class B South girls’ basketball quarterfinal Tuesday at the Portland Expo.

“Our defense is what we’ve been working on most because we know we can score,” said O’Brien, a senior captain. “Our speed definitely helped us on our breakaway layups, and we had height underneath. It was a really good team effort.”

The sixth-seeded Eagles (14-5) will play No. 7 Poland, an upset winner over Wells, in a regional semifinal at 1 p.m. Thursday at Cross Insurance Arena.

“Cagney (O’Brien) got the ball in a position she could score, and that made the difference,” said Mountain Valley Coach Ryan Casey, whose team had a 15-game winning streak snapped. “Honestly, the game plan was to make sure Wajer didn’t get into the paint. Sometimes game plans don’t work.”

Emily Laubauskas and Abby Mazza led the Falcons with nine points each. No. 3 Mountain Valley finished at 16-3.

Ashley Russell helped give the Falcons a 6-4 lead halfway through the first quarter after intercepting two Lincoln passes and connecting with Mazza for two baskets. But Wajer sparked the Eagles by scoring seven points to give Lincoln a 13-8 lead by the end of the quarter.

Wajer opened the second quarter with a 3-point play to put the Eagles ahead by eight. Chelsea Allison gave the Falcons some momentum by scoring five points, including a 3-pointer, to cut Lincoln’s lead to 21-17 with four minutes left in the half.

From there, O’Brien led the Eagles’ offense. She scored nine points in the second quarter, helping Lincoln to a 32-27 lead at the half.

Mountain Valley came alive in the third quarter when Laubauskas, Emily Billings and Liza White combined for eight straight points, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 35-34.

But Wajer kicked off a six-point run with a basket and Kaitlyn Feltis scored four points to boost the lead back to seven. O’Brien finished the quarter with a 3-point play that gave Lincoln a 44-36 advantage.

The Eagles outscored Mountain Valley 16-3 in the fourth quarter to pull away and advance to the semifinals for the third consecutive year.

“We knew it was going to be a tough draw,” Casey said. “The biggest different tonight was there best players came out and played really well.”

Taylor Vortherms can be contacted at 791-6417 or:

tvortherms@pressherald.com

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