Althea Thornton of Poland Regional High School talks with Coach Brian Hamlin during the Knights’ 56-36 win over Buckfield in a Class C South prelim game on Tuesday in Poland. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Althea Thornton scored 14 points as No. 6 Poland beat No. 11 Buckfield 56-36 in a Class C South girls’ basketball prelim game on Tuesday night in Poland.
The Knights improve to 13-6 and advance to face No. 3 Richmond in the quarterfinals on Feb. 20 at the Augusta Civic Center. The Bucks end the season 9-10.
Poland went 0-18 in Class B South last season.
“It’s one of the most amazing feelings I’ve had in so long,” Thornton said. “We went from 0-18 (last season) to 12-6 (now 13-6) and are going to the Civic Center. I couldn’t imagine it last year, and the whole team is so excited. It’s the best feeling.”
Breanna Bartlett and Charlotte Grenier each added nine points for Poland. The Knights jumped out to a 13-point lead at the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 21 by halftime.
“Defensively, we played fantastic,” Poland Coach Jake Webb said. “We are very good defensive team. We had a little bit of a low in the third quarter, where our intensity dropped and they came up… then we just turned it was almost like flipping the switch in the fourth quarter and they came back out and started making stops.”
Sarae Devoe scored 22 points for Buckfield.
WINTHROP 43, OLD ORCHARD BEACH 29: Kylee Mansir and Ella Rice both scored nine points as the Ramblers beat the Seagulls in a Class C South girls’ basketball prelim game in Winthrop.
The Ramblers improve to (13-6) and advance to face No. 2 Hall-Dale in the quarterfinals on Feb. 20 at the Augusta Civic Center. Old Orchard Beach ends the season, 7-12.
Winthrop lost to Old Orchard Beach in the quarterfinals of the C South tournament each of the previous two seasons.
“I am so happy. Every year we play them and we lose to them,” Winthrop’s Haley Williams said. “I am so happy, as a captain and a senior this year, to finally beat them and go to the (Augusta) Civic Center for my last year of basketball — it’s very exciting.”
Williams added seven points for Winthrop, which lead 22-15 at the half, then pushed their lead to 14 by the end of the third quarter.
Cate Clark scored nine points and Sarah Davis added seven for Old Orchard Beach.
– Haley Jones and Nathan Fournier of the Sun Journal contributed to this report
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