AUGUSTA — Racked by team-wide illness this week and without one of its best players for most of the game, top-seeded Boothbay ensured a much-anti- cipated rematch with Monmouth Academy by storming back from a nine-point, third-quarter deficit to defeat No. 4 Madison 53-45 in a Class C South girls’ basketball semifinal Thursday afternoon at the Augusta Civic Center.

Freshman Glory Blethen drained a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor, and senior Page Brown scored six of her team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter as Boothbay (20-0) advanced to the regional final Saturday night against defending state champion Monmouth, which eliminated the Seahawks in the semifinals last year.

Senior guard Sydney LeBlanc led Madison (17-4) with 19 points, while Lauren Hay added 13.

Boothbay junior Faith Blethen has been battling illness this week and played sparingly, but her impact on the game was unmistakable.

She was on the floor at start of the fourth quarter, and her basket with 6:21 remaining gave Boothbay its first lead, 41-40.

“I sensed it from Boothbay. It looked like they picked up on that,” Madison Coach Al Veneziano said of the lift Blethen’s presence on the floor gave the Seahawks. “When Faith came back in, that changed things a little bit.”

Boothbay ended the game with an 18-5 run after LeBlanc’s 3-pointer from the right side gave Madison a 40-35 lead with 42 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

“We got into a little bit of foul trouble, and with Brown, Blethen and Blethen, it’s hard to guard all three of them when you’re in foul trouble,” Veneziano said.”When you get to a point where you’re ahead, you like to think you’re going to pull that out.”

With Faith Blethen ill and Page Brown in foul trouble, the Seahawks turned to their future to get through the present.

Glory Blethen and Kylie Brown, the freshmen younger sisters of Boothbay’s leaders, finished with 11 and eight points, respectively.

Kylie Brown was in the starting lineup in place of Faith Blethen.

“I was pretty scared, having to fill Faith’s shoes,” Kylie Brown said. “She does everything on the court. She rebounds, she shoots, she plays all around really well. I was nervous.”

Glory Blethen’s back-to-back 3-pointers from identical spots on the floor helped the Seahawks pull away.

“All of these girls have the green light to shoot,” Boothbay Coach Brian Blethen said. “This was a team win.”