AUGUSTA — Boothbay Coach Brian Blethen just shook his head and eventually smiled when he spoke about his team’s rusty shooting in a Class B South girls’ basketball quarterfinal Tuesday at the Augusta Civic Center.

But the No. 1 Seahawks made several key shots against No. 8 St. Dom’s in the fourth quarter and escaped with a 32-26 victory.

The Seahawks (19-0) preserved their perfect record and advanced to face 13th-seeded Madison (7-13) at 4 p.m. Thursday.

“Oh my goodness,” Blethen said. “Offensively, we threw everything and the kitchen sink at it and we couldn’t score.

“I felt like our kids defended fairly well. That’s our average. We allowed 26 points for the season. Defensively, I thought our kids did a decent job, but oh my goodness, it didn’t matter who was putting it up there – Faith (Blethen), Glory (Blethen), Chloe (Arsenault) – it just didn’t matter … nothing went.”

Boothbay kept its cool, though, even holding just a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

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“Great team, very gutsy,” Brian Blethen said of St. Dom’s. “Well-coached. He did a nice job. He did his homework – a very well-coached team. Give (St. Dom’s Coach J.P. Yorkey) credit.”

Blethen added that the Saints did a good job “taking Glory and Faith out of the mix.

“That was a good first (priority) … they checked that off the list, and then I feel they applied just enough pressure to make our perimeter players a little uneasy and a little tentative.”

After St. Dom’s (12-8) cut its deficit to 24-21, neither team scored for the next two minutes until Boothbay guard Josey Smith drilled the team’s only 3-pointer. The Saints responded with a basket from Abby Castonguay with 2:38 remaining.

Boothbay secured the win with five straight free throws – two from Madison Faulkingham and three from Arsenault.

The Blethen sisters were held to 16 points. Faith Blethen led the Seahawks with 10 points.

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Hannah Kenney dropped in 10 points for St. Dom’s.

“That was our best defensive game of the year by far,” Yorkey said. “Our girls really battled. It was a point of emphasis to be physical with them, and on the inside and defensively in terms of blocking out. Generally, we are not a physical team, so we really had to get out of our comfort zone, and the girls did a great job.

“Abby Castonguay guarded Faith almost the whole game … (and) just made her work for everything. To Faith’s credit, she is also a very unselfish player, so she didn’t try to force a lot.”

BOYS’ HOCKEY

WINDHAM 1, LAKE REGION 0: Cam Joyce’s goal 4:55 into the first period gave Windham/Westbrook (3-13) a win over Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills (4-13) at USM Arena.

Sean White made 19 saves for the shutout.


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