SOUTH PORTLAND — Top-ranked South Portland overcame a slow start by heating up from 3-point range in the second quarter and went on to a 55-32 victory over No. 8 Noble in a Class AA South girls’ basketball quarterfinal Wednesday night at Beal Gymnasium.

The Red Riots (18-1) managed only eight points in the first seven minutes, before a 3-pointer from Eva Mazur and a layup from Maggie Whitmore made it 13-4.

South Portland then went on a 12-0 run, all on 3-pointers, one each from Mazur and Sarah Boles and a pair from reserve Bela Cloutier, to break it open. By halftime, the Red Riots had a 37-10 advantage.

South Portland pushed its lead to 51-16 after three quarters.

The Riots were sparked by 12 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds from Mazur, 12 points from Boles and eight points from Cloutier. South Portland will face Maine Girls’ Academy or Gorham in the semifinals Tuesday at Cross Insurance Arena.

Noble (4-15) was paced Tori Exel with nine points.

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EDWARD LITTLE 49, LEWISTON 48: Hannah Chaput’s layup with 13 seconds left gave the third-seeded Red Eddies (12-7) a win over the No. 6 Blue Devils (8-11) in a Class AA North quarterfinal in Auburn.

Lewiston senior Victoria Harris was stuck watching from the bench as the Blue Devils tried to get a clean shot before settling for an off-balance heave from 3-point range as the final buzzer sounded.

Harris was brilliant in the final game of her high school career, finishing with 36 points before fouling out.

“Victoria played her absolute heart out tonight,” Lewiston Coach Lynn Girouard said before pausing. “… She really put her team on her back and she wanted it tonight.”

Harris scored 18 points in each half. She drove for baskets, scored in the post and had several putbacks. She also made 8 of 9 free throws.

“She gave her absolute best, give her credit,” Edward Little Coach Chris Cifelli said. “She did a lot of good things for them – obviously the scoring, but also some big rebounds, some big blocks for them.”

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Harris’ final basket came after one of her many offensive rebounds and gave Lewiston a 48-46 lead with 32 seconds left.

Nine seconds later, though, Harris fouled out. Edward Little’s Jade Perry made one free throws to cut the deficit to 48-47.

The Red Eddies then made a defensive stop and called a timeout.

Cifelli said the plan was to get the ball inside, but Chaput caught the inbounds pass at Lewiston’s end, broke the press and split a pair of defenders as she drove for the winner.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

SOUTH PORTLAND 70, MASSABESIC 40: Despite the absence of three injured players, the second-seeded Red Riots (14-5) advanced to the Class AA South semifinals with a win over No. 7 Massabesic (5-14), in South Portland.

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Massabesic took a 12-6 first-quarter lead, but South Portland, playing without Liam Coyne, Riley Hasson and Jacob Milton, got the final seven points of the quarter, capped by a layup from Tyree Bijokta.

Early in the second quarter, a 3-pointer by Alex Schepis put the Mustangs back on top, but South Portland scored the next 13 points, including seven quick points from Connor Buckley. Scott Lewis and Bitjokta hit 3-pointers late in the half and Lewis added a jumper to make it 34-16 at halftime.

South Portland went on a 9-0 run to stretch its lead to 51-27 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Red Riots were led by Buckley with 23 points. Noah Malone added 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals. South Portland will face No. 3 Thornton Academy in the semifinals Tuesday at Cross Insurance Arena in a rematch of last year’s regional final.

Massabesic got 12 points from Schepis.

BOOTHBAY 93, CARRABEC 52: Kyle Ames scored 22 points and Steve Reny added 19 to lead the sixth-seeded Seahawks (14-5) past the 11th-seeded Cobras (6-13) in a Class C South prelim at Boothbay Harbor.

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Boothbay also got 17 points and 12 rebounds from Hunter Crocker and 13 points and 11 rebounds from Cameron Crocker. The Seahawks advanced to face No. 3 Waynflete on Monday at the Augusta Civic Center.

Carrabec was led by Evan Holzworth with 17 points, Nikkolas Dube with 15 and Alex Stafford with 14.

TRAIP ACADEMY 78, BUCKFIELD 44: Will Stuart scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half to lead the eighth-seeded Rangers (10-9) over the No. 9 Bucks (9-10) in a Class C South prelim in Kittery.

Stuart connected on four 3-pointers to help Traip build a 37-22 lead.

Dalen Hubbard added 15 points for the Rangers, who advance to play top-seeded Hall-Dale (17-1) at the Augusta Civic Center on Monday night.

Ethan Jackson scored 20 points for Buckfield.


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