AUGUSTA

The crowd was still buzzing about the evening’s first Class C South boys semifinal high school basketball game, where No. 2 Winthrop downed No. 6 Boothbay by one point in the final seconds.

The second game of the session picked up where the previous game left off.

In a game of back and forth that had 14 lead changes and six ties, the No. 5 Richmond squad took No. 1 Hall-Dale to overtime before the Bulldogs pulled away for a 76-70 victory at the Augusta Civic Center Thursday.

“What can you say, we took the No. 1 to overtime, fighting them until the end,” said Richmond coach Phil Houdlette. “Hall-Dale is a very good team and well coached. We stayed with them.”

Hall-Dale had previously beaten Richmond twice this season, most recently by one point on Feb. 3 in Farmingdale.

Richmond’s Zach Small made the most of his final basketball game in a Richmond uniform. The senior scored a game-high 37 points, including all of the team’s 18 points in the fourth quarter.

“We had a team breakfast this morning, and we watched the tape of Hall- Dale,” said Small. “It got us, especially me, fired up today.”

Trailing by four points entering the four quarter, Small took matters into his own hands. Small opened the quarter with four straight free throws (all makes) in the opening minutes around a Hall-Dale freebie to get the Bobcats within one, 52-51.

After Jett Boyer hit another pair of free throws and Tim Cookson sank one for the Bulldogs, Small nailed his first 3-pointer of the night, giving Richmond its first lead of the game since a 3-2 edge early in the contest. Ashtyn Abbott tied it for Hall- Dale with 4:20 remaining in the final quarter, but the tie didn’t last long.

Small continued his assault on the net, driving the lane and scoring six more points to give Richmond its biggest lead of the night, 62-56 with less than two minutes remaining.

“We knew we couldn’t hold the ball for a minute-and-a-half, so we kept our offense normal, looking for the best shot,” said Houdlette.

The Bulldogs quickly chipped away. Following a pair of free throws, Hall- Dale’s Tyler Nadeau stole a Richmond pass, stepped behind the line and sank a trey to pull his team within one, 62-61. On the next possession, Nadeau hit another shot to give Hall-Dale a 63-62 lead with 48 seconds left.

Abbott hit two more free throws to give the Bulldogs a three-point edge, 65-62.

With under 20 seconds remaining, Small calmly picked up his dribble and sank the game-tying trey, stunning the Hall-Dale crowd.

“I just wanted to get a good shot off, I wasn’t worried about time or anything,” said Small.

Hall-Dale had one more possession, but failed to end the contest, sending the teams to overtime.

Bulldogs ease ahead

With 2:16 remaining in overtime and trailing by five points, Richmond lost its top scorer when Small fouled out. From there, Hall-Dale continued hitting its free throws to seal the victory and advance.

Hall- Dale finished a whopping 25-for-33, including 14-for-21 in the fourth quarter and overtime, from the free-throw line.

“Give Hall-Dale credit, they made the plays when they had to,” said Houdlette. “ Like I mentioned, they are a well-balanced team, any number of them can score, they’re deep.”

Even though the Bulldogs led throughout the first half, and by as much as seven, they failed to shake the Bobcats (14-6). Richmond clawed back to within three at the half, 30- 27.

Each team found their grove offensively in the third, as Small racked up 10 points while Alec Byron matched him for Hall-Dale. Matt Rines, also a senior, scored four points for Richmond before his fourth foul sent him to the bench.

“Zach and Matt are our ball handlers, and when Matt had to leave with four fouls, we knew we had to rely on Zach,” said Houdlette.

Rines absence for the rest of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth meant more scoring opportunities for Small. Rines finished with 19 points when it was all said and done, including all of Richmond’s five overtime points.

Dan Stewart chipped in with nine points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Byron scored a team-high 24 points to pace Hall-Dale, while sophomore Josh Nadeau added 21 points in the win. Nadeau also had five boards. Boyer netted 12 and Tyler Nadeau chipped in with nine points.

“They work so hard and showed the rest of the Mountain Valley Conference we can play,” said Houdlette. “We’ll see if we can sustain the success and the numbers in the years to come. It’s been great with these kids,” said Houdlette.

No. 1 Hall-Dale 76, No. 5 Richmond 70

Class C South Boys Semifinal At the Augusta Civic Center

	Richmond	—	13	14	20	18	5	—	70
Hall-Dale		—	17	13	21	14	11	—	76

Richmond — Matt Rines 7-2-19,
Nick Adams 0-0-0, Calob Densmore
0-0-0, Daniel Stewart 4-0-9, Zach
Small 13-9-37, Nathan Kendrick 1-0-
3, Kenneth Bing 0-0-0, Nicholas Ridenour 1-0-2. Totals — 26-11-70.
Hall-Dale — Ashtyn Abbott 7-7-21,
Alec Byron 8-6-24, Jett Boyer 3-4-12,
Owen Dupont 0-0-0, Josh Nadeau 2-
1-5, Tyler Nadeau 3-2-9, Matt Albert
0-0-0, Tim Cookson 0-3-3, Tim Cookson 0-3-3, Austin Stebbins 0-0-0.
Totals — 23-25-76.
3-point goals — (R) Rines 3, Small
2, Kendrick, Stewart; (Hall-Dale)
Byron 2, Boyer 2, T. Nadeau.
Records — Hall-Dale 19-1, Richmond 14-6,
Note — The season has concluded
for the Bobcats.